


Starting Over

by AlexandriaLives



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Multi, Original Character(s), POV Pidge | Katie Holt, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 03:09:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 46,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16109534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexandriaLives/pseuds/AlexandriaLives
Summary: After ending up in the hospital, where will Pidge go from here. The Earth she knew is different, but is she ready to find out how much. A new threat is building, but can the team pull back together to defend the Earth? What will stand in their way.Spoiler of Season 7.This is my version on Season 8.I am terrible at summaries. Please give my story a shot.





	1. Release Day

**Author's Note:**

> Pidge gets released from the hospital.

Pidge sat on the hospital bed and barely listened to her parents’ dialogue with her doctor. Released for duty meant she could leave the Atlas’ hospital section. She felt excitement for the last few minutes because she would be free to roam the halls and visit everyone. 

Sam walked into the hall with the doctor, while Colleen approached her daughter. “Try not to over do it on your first day.” Her mom winked and left.

First, she changed into her clothes she had in her bag from the Castle. Pidge refused to wear Garrison cadet uniform. She wanted to feel comfortable as she looked around her new home. Next, she grabbed her bag and checked the door. Once the hallway was clear, she left.

Heading straight for Green, Pidge was about to turn the final corner when she ran straight into a hard object. She expected to hit the ground, but a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Ahh,” she yelled. Looking up, she found James standing in her path.

As James released his grip, he said. “What’s the hurry?”

She scanned the hall and found then alone. “Wanted to see Green.”

He stepped out of her way to let her pass and then followed her into the hanger. “Are you supposed to be in the Med wing?”

She huffed under her breath and turned on him. “I’m cleared.”

Laughing as he walked to the table set to the left of the room, James smiled at her as he faced Green. “Congratulation on being release. It must feel nice to be ready to get back to action.”

Rolling her eyes, she moved over to the desk, moved the chair and set her back pack down.

James’ eyes scanned Pidge as if assessing if she was well enough to be out of the hospital wing. “Your dad never doubted you would return. Even when the world seemed against him. He put his faith in Voltron, Matt, us, when the rest of Garrison saw us as kids. Can you image never having someone believe in you? Wait, you lived with a family who knew you would save the Universe someday. Just know that we will have Voltron’s back. We need to build trust between all of us as we fight side by side in the future. Also, I don’t know how it was in the castle, but we want to be a team. All of us, Voltron, The MTE pilots, oh and possibly Veronica.” His voice sounded sincere, but it was clear he masked his emotions. “Well, Paladin Holt, if you need anything let me know.” Then, he turned and left without another word.

Instantly, a whisper escaped Pidge’s lips as she studied Green. “Paladin Holt? I hope Matt never hears him or Lance. It will be a requirement.”

Sitting at her desk she opened her computer and began pulling up old Altean device designs. Scanning files, she wondered what she could create given the parts she had available. She ran across a chemical formula which reminded her of fireworks. ‘I’ll use that later.’ Another design appeared about communication device similar to 3D glasses and a third design on visual interfaces. 

An idea formed on how to blend the 3D glasses to a visual interface. Standing up and pulling out different pieces of equipment, she quickly calculated she would need two. Once, she created the two physical devices, she went to work on programing them. 

Coding went slow at first, but after a few nudges from Green, she was ready to try one out. She placed the glasses on her face, but her brother’s glasses were in the way. Removing her prized possession, she placed the new clear plastic on her face instead.

Tapping the side, a 3D image appeared of the room in where she stood. Only the view displayed on her glasses appeared from the table and it gave a sideways view of Green. She exhaled and heard a slight feedback from the other glasses. Turning down the volume, she missed the sound of the door opening. 

As she tuned the frequency in and out, Lance walked up and whispered in her ear. “Did you come here to rock out?”

Pidge screamed and jerked back. “Ahhh… Lance?”

He smiled from ear to ear. “What are you doing? Looking at stars?” She hit his shoulder causing him to laugh. “What?” Moving in closer, he slowly pulled off her new glasses and examined them. “Are these special glasses?” He put them on and nothing happened.

Pidge rolled her eyes and picked up the pair from the table. “Put these on.” She held out the glasses in her left as she snatched hers off his face. “I coded these to me. You can’t use them.” 

Slowly, he took the other pair and put them on. Once he had them in place he frowned. “These are broken.” She chuckled and he could hear typing. Then, the glasses came to life and he whistled. “Where did you get these?”

“I made them.” When he slid them down to look at her, she had a slight blush to her cheeks. “What?” Shaking her head, no, she turned to fully face him. “Okay, now only you can use them. They are my test set. If it works well, I will make more. When you wear them and we have them in the same mode, we can see and hear what the other can.”

Waving his hand in front of his face, Lance’s smile grew. “But I can see my surrounding too. You have outdone yourself Pidge.” Taking them off he studied her face. “Congrads on being released. James said you were so distracted that you ran into him.” Her blush disappeared and she frowned, he realized he hit a nerve. “Do you have a problem with James?”

“He talked about my dad as if he was his. Just because they bonded while we were gone. Can you believe him?”

Lance nodded as his voice turned softer. “It is understandable, after everything he has lost.” When Pidge’s eyes snapped to him, he continued. “Sam took him under his wing after all that Matt and you have taught him. When the barrier went up, James’ parents were on the other side. They were killed during the Galra’s control. No one deserves to lose their family. I know he was a jerk in his youth and he used to fight with Keith. But he has mellowed. I think he is jealous of you with your family.” He holds out his glasses for her. “Please be nice, he is someone we can trust.”

“Lance, those are for you. I have mine and you would be doing me a favor if you tried them out from time to time.” His smile brightened, so she went back to her computer. “I would like to test the distance range on them. The next time you travel somewhere send me a message. The screen should blink when you have a notification or an incoming call.” She opened a nearby box and pulled out a soft plastic covering case. “Please don’t tell anyone. I just want to try them out for a while, okay?” She handed him her extra case.

“I promise.” His eyes sparkled with mischief as he pointed past her to her lion. “Strange fact. Red always sits close to that wall and if you look carefully, Green is closer to the opposite wall.” Blue eyes roam over the space as if calculating the distance between the walls. “I bet we could get both lions in here.” Landing back on Pidge, Lance smiled. “Well, I wanted to stop to say hi and see how you are doing. Thanks for the glasses.”

Brown eyes danced with mischief as Pidge spoke. “What Lance, hot date?”

“Yeah. Allura and I are having lunch in the plaza near 3rd street. Then, we wanted to take a walk through the local businesses.” Happiness radiated off him like a warm summer’s day. “What are your plans?”

“Not much, Matt will be back in a few days. So, I figured I would just visit with Hunk in the kitchen.”

“Oh sorry, he took Shay to visit the desert and help some village rebuild. Keith and Shiro are tied up with some meetings too.” 

“Great, then I get to work in my lab by myself without being harassed.” Her smile and tone displayed no sarcasm. “I can get some much done.”

Lance nodded as if he was comfortable with her answer. “Well, I’ll call you tomorrow and we can test these out. Have a great day Pidge.” He waved as he left.

Turning back to her computer, Pidge dived back into her work. She pulled up more files and reviewed the different ideas she had for Castle upgrades. One folder had a strange name she didn’t remember so she opened it. Inside she found pictures from the device Lance borrowed during their time in space. Stumbling around through the pictures, she found one picture with the robot they hung around with on Lotor’s ship. Lance and Hunk appeared so happy while she had her face stuck in her computer programing the robot. 

When the door opened behind her, she shut down all her files. “Forgot something?” She spun around and found Nadia and Ryan standing in the doorway.

Nadia smiled and walked up to her. “Not sure if you remember us, but this is Ryan and I’m Nadia.” She gestured to the male pilot, then to herself. “We wanted to know if you have plans for dinner?”

Pidge tilted her head as she thought over the question. “You mean lunch.” The two exchanged a strange look which made Pidge consider her options. They know she skipped lunch and she could lie, but she thought about what James said about the other pilots. “No, you mean dinner, which means I skipped lunch, again.”

Nadia bumped Ryan’s shoulder in a playful manor. “Well, did you want to join us?”

“Give me a minute please.” She packed up her computer and placed the glasses in their case. She slid both into her bag and turned around to find Ryan about to touch her stuff. “No touching my equipment!” The words came out harsh causing Ryan to flinch, but she continued to stare.

A moment later the door opened and in walked James. He looked irritated by the three of them. “Why do I hear yelling?”

Before they could answer, Pidge responded in a matter of fact tone. “James, chill. I was reminding Ryan not touching my stuff and Nadia offered for me to join them for dinner.” Slinging her back pack on her shoulder, Pidge walked over to the door. 

Green sent a warm feeling over her with an image of Matt standing in her room offering cake. Then another of Matt and her talking with Hunk in the Castle of Lions. Giggling at the memory, Pidge’s voice sounded happy. “Okay, Green, I get it. I will, I promise.” 

Nadia looked at Green and back at Pidge in confusion. “What did she say?”

“We can talk over dinner. Unless you changed your mind.” Her brown eyes scanned James. “Are you joining us?”

James head shook no, but it was clear his eyes held an internal battle. James and Ryan exchanged knowing look and he left without a word. 

The three entered the hallway and Pidge headed toward the cafeteria. When she realized the other two had stopped, she turned and faced them. “Are we going to the cafeteria?”

This time, Ryan spoke. “We wanted to go into town and get some Pizza.”

“Cool.” Pidge whispered and motion for them to lead the way.

Nadia talked about what she considered acceptable toppings. The way Ryan’s shoulders relaxed, it was clear they had this conversation before. They traveled down two hallways and almost made it to the vehicle bay when a voice called out.

“Wait.” Veronica stopped right next to Pidge and caught her breath. As she panted, she put her hand on Pidge’s shoulder. The Cuban missed the sour look she received from Pidge as she took deep breaths. “Have any of you seen Lance?”

Pidge stepped back which caused Veronica’s hand to fall. She did her best to keep her annoyance out of her voice. “He left a while ago to have lunch. I haven’t seen him after that.” Her eyes narrowed on her shoulder and then back to Veronica’s face.

Veronica held the glow of victory as she smiled, it was a look of joy. “Bet he took Allura on his little outing. Wonder what they will do?’

Pidge rolled her eyes at Veronica’s obvious excitement. “Yes, Allura is with him. He said he wanted to show her around.” Pidge frowned when Veronica stared right at her. 

“Did he say where he was going?”

“No. Sorry, guess you will have to get your own life and not stalk your brother.” Focusing back to Ryan and Nadia, Pidge ignored Veronica’s gasp. “I’ve changed my mind, I want to eat here. Please, go have fun.” As she turned to leave, Pidge felt Ryan grab her arm. 

Ryan’s expression matched one she had seen on Hunk many times, soft yet reasoning. “Ignore Veronica, she doesn’t mean any harm. She missed her brother and goes a little overboard.” Ryan shifted in defeat as he let go of her arm. “Can we please go get food?” 

First, Pidge’s eyes moved from Ryan to Nadia and she noticed how tired they both appeared. Then, she moved to Veronica. She held the same expression Lance had when Shiro yelled at him. “Sure. I skipped lunch, I’m just hungry.”

Pidge and Ryan walked to the vehicle bay with Nadia and Veronica in tow. When Ryan got into the driver’s seat, Pidge got in behind him. Nadia climbed into the passenger front leaving Veronica next to Pidge in the back. Pidge dropped her bag in the seat between Veronica and her. 

The Green Paladin’s mind wondered over Matt’s stories of his time at the Garrison. She bet, James and his team had stories of their adventures too. Maybe similar to all the times Lance and Hunk snuck out to flirt with girls. Her first experience at the Garrison included her focus on getting her family back. This time will be different.

Nadia voice held a carefree and calm tone. “Veronica, I still remember how you told James that I should drive because I got the best scores. The look on his face. Really funny, right Ryan?” He shook his head no at her and continued to drive in silence. “Well, anyway. Let’s play the question game.”

Pidge saw Veronica roll her eyes and focus on something outside the window. Her analytical mind raced with options. Smiling she took a chance on Nadia. “What’s the question game?”

Veronica and Ryan both sighed while Nadia practically jumped out of her seat. “During our time in training we came up with a question game, Ina did I think, you ask a random question. If you don’t like the question because it is too personal or the answer was already used, you say pass. Otherwise, everyone, including the questioner, must answer.”

“Oh I get it, it is a way to bond and get to know your team quickly. Therefore, statically so you can predict them when the team is under pressure.” Pidge nodded to her reasoning. Once she realized it was quiet, she found the others smiling. “Let me guess, that was an Ina answer?”

Nadia’s smile grew as she turned her eyes back to the road. “I like you Holt. You are good.”

“Pidge. My teammates call me Pidge. Holt sounds too formal. I’m not Dad, Mom or Matt.” Looking out her own window, she watched the sun set in the distance. Blue and red danced in the sky merging into several shades of purple. “I’ll play. Who will start?”

The vehicle stopped outside the pizza place and Ryan snapped. “Really? Look at them.” A line of Garrison people stood at the entrance. 

Veronica’s voice sounded sad. “What did you expect, today they have their best special.” 

Drumming her fingers on the door like a keyboard, Pidge tossed out an idea. “We could go to Vrepit Sal.”

Ryan shook his head no. “They are always busy and you need a reservation. I heard it is good, but we can’t get in.”

Pidge smirked, grabbed her bag and got out of the vehicle. She made her way across the street and down the block. The large sign above the door written in an alien language had a picture of Sal next to it. A blue skinned, white haired lady stood at the entrance next to a blonde spiky haired kid who was about nineteen years old. He looked familiar, but Pidge ignored him and walked in the building. 

Several tables stopped to stare at her as she moved toward the noise in the back. Sal came into view with his back to the customers as he inspected dishes of food. 

“Hey, you can’t just walk in!” Sal and Pidge turned to find the young man and the older lady standing by the entrance blocking the door. “You need to leave.”

The blue skinned one stepped forward. “Actually, Paladin Holt, it is nice to meet you. Hunk and Lance have spoke very highly of you. Would you like something to eat?”

Before she could answer, the young man said one word. “Katie?”

In an instant, Pidge knew him as the kid who called her nerd in school. He made her cry on more than one occasion. Instead, she focused on the woman. “You can call me Pidge. I know we don’t have a reservation and I…”

Sal laughed. “Get her and her friends a table. Give them anything they want on the menu.” Smiling down at Pidge, Sal placed his arm on her shoulder. “And it’s gratis, meaning on the house. How many?”

Before Pidge could answer, Veronica spoke up “Six.” The door opened behind Lance’s sister and in walked James and Ina. Ryan and Nadia stood next to Pidge’s school bully, speciously eyeing him as they made room for the others.

Sal left after patting Pidge’s shoulder and almost knocking her over. They were seated at a table in the back. Ryan made James move over a seat so he was on Pidge’s left while Nadia sat to Pidge’s right. Ina, James and Veronica sat on the other side. They picked up their menus and picked out what they wanted to eat.

The bully appeared at their table and politely asked for the orders from the side opposite Pidge. Then, he took Nadia order. Once it was her turn, Pidge kept running her fingers over the corner of the menu. She snapped out of it when the waiter called her Katie. Her eyes narrowed on him and her voice sounded venous even to her. “Don’t use my first name like we are friends.” She heard a gasp, but she knew better to look away from her target. “Call me Holt, Gunderson or even Paladin Holt, but you shouldn’t call me Pidge or Katie.” Her mistake was to glance at Ryan. “I’m not hungry.” 

Ryan grabbed her menu and pointed to one of the specials. “Hey, how about we order this for you and I will get this one? If we don’t like it we can switch. What do you think?” His grey eyes and dark skin held a soft look to them that matched his tone. Not trusting herself to speak Pidge nodded yes, which caused Ryan’s face to harden when he turned to the waiter. “These two and I suggest you heed her warning.”

Once the waiter left, Ryan turned to Pidge with a soften expression. “Question, how do you know him?”

“Pass.”

Ryan nodded, but didn’t turn away. “Question, do I need to break his kneecaps?”

Pidge snorted causing her face to turn red. “No.” She smiled happily at Ryan as the others chuckled. “Please breaking his kneecaps would give him more attention than he deserves.”

His head tilted to the side as he calculated his next move. “Question, if you could pick up a new skill in an instant, what would it be?” Pidge got a far away look, so Ryan figured he made a mistake with his question.

Veronica’s eyes sparked with mischief as she leaned in. “Learn how to hack into the Garrison computer to look at files.”

Blue matched brown as Veronica and Pidge shared a sisterly moment. Then, a giggle escaped Pidge’s lips. “Well, to be completely honest, I would want to learn Spanish.” Veronica’s face changed to surprise as Pidge’s continued. “Once in a while when he’s tired and we are playing video games, he might switch to Spanish mid-sentence. It would be funny if I knew what he said. How about all of you?”

James bumped Ina with his elbow. “I want to have a calculator inside my head like Ina.”

Her eye brows furrowed together in confusion. “I don’t have a calculator in my head.”

Nadia jumped on that statement. “Ina, we are friends and I love hanging out with you, but what is the cube root of five thousand two hundred and eighty?”

“17.4131753823.” Ina said in a mater o fact tone. “Anyway, my answer would be understanding sarcasm.”

The blond waiter came over and passed out the drinks without making eye contact. He nearly spilled James drink on Veronica. “I’m sorry.” His eyes focused in directly at Pidge and whispered. “I really am sorry.” Then, he turned and left.

Pidge watched his retreat and spoke more to herself. “Who knew a bully could find a conscious?”

Leaning forward, James cleared his throat. “Actually, it depends on the person. If you asked younger me if he could find a way to get along with Keith, he would have laughed. Maybe even thrown a punch. Now, I would take a bullet for him if needed. Some of us need to grow up the hard way.”

Pidge considered James’ words as her face morphed into a smile. “Keith would have hit you right back.” When James chuckled and pulled back, Pidge raised her tone. “Now, he would make you train instead.” Rolling her eyes, she scanned the others. “Him and his mom are scary with the drills.”


	2. Learning of a Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins need to come together and work on a new threat.

Outside the downtown government building Pidge noticed three familiar faces walk past. Marco and Luis harassed Veronica about some boyfriend. Pidge edged closer, but kept her back to them.

“You should bring him home to meet mom.” One of her brothers said.

The one who appeared older poked Veronica in the side and laughed. “Yeah, you are always teasing Lance. It is clear that it didn’t work out with the Princess. So why don’t you focus on your own love life.”

Veronica shifted toward the older one and got in his face. “You weren’t there when Lance and Allura were blushing at each other. He has feelings for her and has for some time. As for my love life, stay out of it. If I wanted a boyfriend, I would have one.” 

“Lance says otherwise. You want everyone to respect your choices, but you need to respect his. He has changed.” Pidge averted her eyes when the younger brother looked around. “It is possible that Lance will develop feelings for someone else. If he gives up on the thought of this Princess, then you better watch what you say.”

Pidge’s glasses beeped causing her to put some distance between the other siblings while she answered Lance’s call. As soon as the glasses were in place, the Garrison conference room came into view. Lance leaned against the far wall with a full view of the table. 

Shiro sat on the far side of the table, with Keith and Allura closest to Lance. Clearly an argument had just ended and Lance put the glasses on for her to ease drop. Pidge moved a few more steps away from the McClain siblings and kept her head in a direction as to prevent Lance from knowing they were present.

Keith stood up from his seat and stared at Shiro. “I understand your concern. However, until we gather real evidence about this mysterious danger to the Paladins, we will continue our work as scheduled. The Paladins will be informed of the threat, but we will not back down.” Keith turned and whispered to Allura causing her to leave the room. “I will inform Pidge when she returns. I sent James to pick her up at the Plaza.” 

Pidge’s voice came out louder than intended. “What?” She turned around and began running down the busy sidewalk. She knew Lance would see where she started, but right now she didn’t care.

Shiro stood up and closed the gap between him and Keith. “We kept this as quiet as possible. For all our sakes. It is only a matter of time before an attack happens or the Paladins’ families find out. I will do what I can to help, but please work quickly. In the Castle, we had time to make decisions away from… well, the world watching.” Shiro headed toward the door, but stopped a few feet away. “Oh and keep an eye on the Red and Green Paladins, they can be a handful.” Then, he left.

Slowly approaching Keith, Lance put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You were right, don’t doubt that. If you put the Paladins on lockdown and we have a real threat on our hands…”

“They would attack our family and friends. It is what I would do. Escalate to draw out my real targets and make them pay for hiding.”

Dropping his hand Lance walked over to the table where Shiro once sat. “They will plan something, a trap.” Lance’s head tilted down toward a picture of a dark headed eight-year-old boy. “Do we know his identity?” 

“No. Pidge will find him.” Pride in Keith’s voice had Lance look up. Keith had a smile on his face. “Are you okay?”

Defensively Lance answered. “I can’t believe Allura told you. Are you asking as the Black Paladin or as Keith?”

“Lance, I am asking as your friend. I know the two of you broke up…”

Lance chuckled again. “We never really started, and I’m fine that Allura and I are not a couple. I really am.” Walking around the table the long way, Lance stayed quiet. It wasn’t until Lance was a few feet from Keith that he spoke. “I feel agitated, like I am missing something. I am supposed to react, but I don’t know what to react too.”

“As the former Red Paladin to the current Red Paladin, patience yields focus.” When Lance frowned, Keith laughed and then smiled. “Hopefully, you are a faster learner than me.”

Lance smirked. “Of course, I am faster and better.” They two laughed together. As Keith turned toward the door, Lance spoke. “Keith, can I have a moment alone before we talk?”

After Keith left, Lance spoke. “Keith will fill you in on details. Short version, Shiro learned from the Coalition a rumor that the Paladins are wanted dead. Shocker, I know. They wanted to have us stay on the Atlas until farther notice. Keith disagreed. James should be at the Plaza soon.”

Her panting grew louder as she ran. “I wasn’t there, but I’m now.” She finally stopped at the far end of the Plaza and caught her breath. She spotted James and sighed. “Please do not say anything about where I was.” 

James closed the gap quickly with his eyes scrutinizing her glasses. “What is with your glasses? Is that some sort of computer interface? Can you talk to your lion with those?”

“Actually, the glasses have a computer interface and I can communicate with another glasses user. It shares 3D images between users. We can’t interact with the others environment, but we can see the others point of view.” James smiled and gestured to the vehicle. “Sorry, I got wrapped up in my conversation. I wondered off a bit.”

James opened the passenger door and Pidge froze. “Are you talking to someone now?” When Pidge nodded yes, James closed the passenger door and open the door to the backseat.

After she got in and James closed the door, Lance spoke. “I thought we were to keep this hush, hush. You didn’t want anyone to know what the glasses did.”

She snapped before James got into the driver’s seat. “I told him what they did, not who I was talking too. Besides, you told me to trust him.”

Lance sounded defeated, but he spoke the truth. “What is the big deal about who you are talking to, why is it such a secret?” He paused, but then waved his hand in defeat.

Pidge lowered her voice hoping only Lance would hear her. “It is hard to trust others to make the right choices. Most technological advances were made for a specific purpose. Doesn’t mean that some genius won’t come along and use it for personal gain.”

She could almost her Lance’s motivation within his words. “So, live in a bubble and never share, because someone could use what you built against you. Sounds like a great life. Only… Only, you never get to learn from others; be inspired by their ideas. If someone tried to use it against you, at least you are not alone and as a team, we can fight back.” His head drifted toward the clock on the wall. “I should get back to Keith before he comes looking for me.”

Her eyes darted to James as a warning that they were not alone. “Before you hang up... What happened between you and …” 

“We decided we are not meant to be. We can talk later. I promise. Bye Pidge.”

“Bye.” She whispered as the call disconnected. Sliding off her glasses, her eyes drifted out the window. “I’m off my call James.”

James continued to drive in silence at first. Once they got to a long stretch of road, his voice broke the quiet. “Tonight, where were you really?” He noticed her stiffen. “Did you drive out here or were you dropped off?”

She studied his eyes in the rear-view mirror and saw concern. “Several people were going into town, so I joined them. I had an errand to run and told them to go on without me. My parents knew I was in the city if that is what you wanted to know.”

“Pidge, I don’t care if your family knows your every move. As a fellow soldier, if you need to go somewhere dangerous, please ask for someone to go with you.” His eyes crinkled with humor. “I have heard stories how you can handle yourself. I have no doubt that you are capable to be off by yourself.” The road curved and the Atlas came into view. “It is just, I will come pick you up wherever you need, no questions asked. This is not the castle and you do not have to be on your own. The Paladins have resources at their disposal. Please think about it.”

When the vehicle stopped at the entrance, Pidge quietly spoke. “If I agree to start trusting you and your team, will stop reminding me that I am not in the Castle?”

For an instant, James’ eyes widen with shock and then he recovered. “Yes.” He held out a small card with writing on it. “It has everyone’s number on it. If one of us can’t make it, someone we trust will.” Slowly she took the card making James smile. “I apologize if bring up the Castle and/or being a loner bothers you. I thought…”

Pidge interrupted his thought. “Don’t worry about it.” Upon opening the door, she realized they had an audience. Keith, Lance, Allura and Hunk stood at the entrance to the building with Ryan, Nadia and Ina standing slightly behind them. James walked around the vehicle and stood next to Pidge. 

Keith moved closer with a focus on Pidge. “We need to talk inside. Where could you use your computers skills in a secluded place?” Her head tilted toward the non-Paladins, Keith cleared his throat. “Yes, all of us.”

Since Pidge had spent time with James’ group and it was clear to her that Keith and Lance trusted them she nodded. “My hanger.” This time, Keith had an instant of shock that quickly disappeared. “What? You trust them, right?” Without waiting, Pidge used the quickest route to Green. 

She made the trip quick, but paused outside the hanger door. Once she calculated they were all their she rotated her body and faced the small crowd. “Some of you know me, some of you don’t. Just remember, if you value your fingers don’t touch my stuff. My stuff, not your stuff. Got it?”

Ryan held his hands up as a surrender, and used a sarcastic tone. “I learned my lesson last time. Thank you for letting me keep my fingers.”

Pidge rolled her eyes, spun and entered the hanger. Green sat off to one side, but when the doors shut, the Green lion stood. Next, the lion moved over to the middle of her space and positioned herself on the floor. 

Nadia whispered to Ryan, but the whole room heard her. “The lion didn’t do that before.”

Pidge made it to her table and her fingers flew over the keys. “Green’s mad. Just ignore the big baby.” Green opened her mouth like in a yawn causing Pidge to shake her head. “I told you not to encourage him, now Keith will be mad at both of us.” She continued typing and never looked up, but added. “Hunk, don’t touch.” 

On the other side of the room, Hunk had reached out to touch a mess of wires and metal. “Oh come on. I won’t break it.”

In a flash, Cosmo appeared next to Green. Once he spotted Pidge, he teleported next to her. “Not now Cosmo.” 

“Hey boy, what are you doing in here? Leave Pidge alone.” Keith ordered as he stepped closer to the cosmic wolf. “How often does he come in here?”

Pidge’s eyes widen, but didn’t answer him. “Cosmo, I promise, you can have one later. Please go, before I get into trouble.” Cosmo teleported on top of Green while Pidge glanced at Keith. “We’ll talk later.”

The Black Paladin’s eyes told her their talk would be a requirement. “Okay, we need to go over a few things. First…”

“The Coalition heard a rumor that an attack on the Paladins is emanate. Something about a device will disable but not kill the lions. An unknown thief stole a device that could be converted to an aerosol device. It would make whatever they were planning airborne.” Pidge rotated her neck and was awarded with a cracking sound. “When they tracked down the thief, he was dead. They found pictures of the Paladins, their families, the MFE pilots and some unknown random kid. Shiro wanted us on lock down, but Keith said no.”

“Wait.” All eyes landed on Keith. “How did you know all that?”

Pidge focused on her laptop and brought up six displays for the team to see. One of the conference room, one of the bridge, one of the cafeteria, one of Shiro’s office, one of her dad’s office and one of Iverson’s. “This may not be the Castle, but I will not be defenseless in my home. We have had too many times where we almost died and it could have been prevented. Get mad all you want, but I am a survivalist.” 

Nadia again whispered to Ryan, but the room heard her. “Remind me never to piss her off.”

Allura smiled as she grew closer to Pidge. “The Green Paladin has an inquisitive personality, with intellect and daring. She is not scary, just don’t touch her stuff.”

Pidge’s eyes roamed over Allura. “Who taught you sarcasm?”

Smiling Allura opened her mouth to say something and Cosmo teleported between James and Keith. Keith reached to pet him and Cosmo teleported next to Lance and Veronica. Then, he teleported back to Green’s head.

James’ eyes followed Cosmo’s every time to the same spot. Glancing over at Pidge, he confirmed the source of distress for the wolf. His hand reached out and Cosmo instantly appeared next to him.

Pidge’s voice held panic and not force. “No!”

Lance stepped closer to Pidge, his voice full of concern. “What’s in the tool box Pidge?”

“Once you open that, you will never be the same. I will deal with Cosmo later.” She tried to keep the worry from her voice, but knew she failed.

James reach over with a smile on his face and open it. His smile fell and he closed the toolbox. “She was right, you will never be the same. No offence Pidge, but your street cred just went down.”

Walking over to James, Pidge opened the toolbox and tossed a peanut butter cookie high into the air. Cosmo teleported, did a flip, caught the cookie in mid air and vanished. Pidge took out a second cookie, held it between her teeth, closed the toolbox, set it on the table and walked back to her station. “Wht?”

Lance chuckled, which caused others to join in. “What did you eat for lunch?”

Save by her computer beeping, Pidge worked on her computer for a minute. The displays showed her typing and running searches. One screen showed different designs she had worked on, but Pidge ignored them. The kid’s face showed up on the main screen with a bio. “Wow. His name is Daniel and he is the son of a Commander at a military facility in Japan. Actually, he is visiting a cousin in…“

“Florida.” Lance answered as he picked up the project to the right of Pidge. He rotated it in his hand examining the different angles. Pidge rotated it in his hand and Lance nodded. “Weather should be good for a short trip there. When do we leave?”

“We don’t have too. He is coming here next week for a visit to the base. I can run a program to keep an eye on him until then.” She fingers flew over the keys as she typed. “Actually, I’m done.”

Keith nodded to James and the two shared a look. “Okay, for now, we gather more intel on the thief and his companions. I will reach out and find out if they need help rebuilding in Japan. Maybe we can find out more about what is going on there.” Keith stepped closer to Pidge. “Pidge great job on finding him and for all the tech stuff. However, please stop giving the cosmic wolf your cookies.”

“You going to tell him that?”


	3. Having Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months since arriving on Earth and Pidge is getting restless.  
> She gets sidetracked by a Paladin and the MFE team.

A massive structure loomed over the green Paladin as the sun set in the distance. She stood a few feet back as she studied the Olkari designs on her light tablet. Guaranteed as the largest building in the city, but it was still in construction. Everyone had stopped for the day, except for Pidge. She felt at peace working on this project. However, she knew something was missing. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. Green was restless and kept sending her reassurance, but it was clear the Paladin and lion felt the same.

Her mind kept analyzing the last three months. Rebuilding after a war normally took years, but with advanced technology, they were almost finished. Sentries from the fallen Galra ships were repurposed. The Galra soldiers were in the Blades care and rehabilitation. She worked along side her family and they had dinner three times a week. 

Most importantly, she was a Paladin. 

It was great being on Earth, but it she did not remember it being so loud. In a way, she missed the castle. Especially at night, when the castle was quiet and she would be working in her lab. She even missed the late-night nagging of her fellow Paladins.

The hairs on her neck stood up as a signal that someone was nearby. Turning slowly, she casually checked the perimeter for hostiles, but saw nothing. A beep from her pocket distracted her thoughts. She pulled out a pair of clear googles and place them on her face. As soon as she tapped the side, a 3D display appeared over the nearby building.

Sunlight flooded the screen as the city of Tokyo came into view. The sound of a certain Cuban Paladin filled her ears. “Konnichiwa, it means hello in Japanese.”

After a slight sigh, Pidge answered. “It’s konbanwa, Lance.”

“No, it is before ten thirty in the morning, so the day is just starting.” Humor danced in his words as he moved closer to a control panel next. “Wow, you’re grumpy this morning. Did you not get enough sleep last night?” 

She shook her head slightly. “I am so glad you get plenty of use out of our communications.”

“First, don’t shake your head, it makes me feel like Hunk.” After a soft chuckle from her, Lance continued. “Second, it appears you are outside of the Garrison. Are you avoiding sleep or fun? Third, is it too hard to image I wanted to hear a friendly voice?” 

Again, she chuckled. “Hunk is busy with Vrepit Sal. Shiro and Keith are coordinating a transfer of refuges to Earth curtesy of the Blades. Allura, Coran and Romelle are trying to help the Altean we rescued from that evil robeast. Veronica, my bet, is driving you crazy with question you don’t want to answer.” She packed up her screen and grabbed her bag. “We talk all the time Lance, at least twice a day. Besides, you know I am not always a friendly voice.”

His voice sounded dejected and distracted. “Contrary to popular belief, you were not the last person I called.” He sighed as he looked over at his speeder. “I thought… Nevermind. See you later today, tomorrow, whatever.”

As she walked toward the street, she lowered her voice. “Sorry. I’m here, it’s just. Well, don’t hang up, my ride is here.” Once her ride came into full view, she sighed. She noticed two people by the rover and not one. “She might hear our conversation, but I will do my best to keep this between us. Go on with what you were saying.” As she approached the vehicle, James and Veronica stopped talking. 

James pointed to his ear making Pidge nodded ‘yes’. Before Veronica started to speak, James placed his hand on her arm to stop her. “Pidge is on the phone. We can talk, but please let her finish her conversation.” Opening the door for Pidge to sit in the back, James grinned at Veronica.

Climbing into the back, Lance growled. “He is overly friendly. How do you put up with him?”

Smirking, she put on her seat belt and whispered. “Not being interested helps. Besides, kind of reminds me of Chip. So not a problem.” Veronica raised an eyebrow, but she ignored it to look out the window. “Everything okay?”

Lance paused as he checked his screen. “Guess it was my mistake for pushing you to be nice to him. Anyway, Matt is nothing like James, at least not as I see it but whatever. I wanted to talk to you because I know you will be honest.” 

“The fourth line has a missed calculation. It should be V squared not V. It would not have enough voltage to heat up and then the system will error out.” For fun, she added a little sarcasm. “Was that honest enough?”

“Funny and thanks.” He made correction and started the system. “Remember when we talked about what happened between Allura and I? I said we felt a connection, but we knew it would never work.”

Sensing tension, Pidge kept her voice even. “Yeah?”

Sighing, Lance handed over the working tablet to a soldier in a Garrison outfit. They must have been from a nearby outpost. We then walked to his speeder. Once inside, he continued. “Well, about two weeks after we were released from the hospital, we did something a little crazy. Apparently, Alteans have a device that can help you find the right match. The device should strengthen the bonds of the users. It interfaces with your head and chest. It is meant to read your compatibility.”

Excitement filled her voice as her mind wondered. “Does it track electrical impulses from your heart to your brain? Does it monitor your brain waves? Or does it respond to your quintessence state? For the last month or so, I have studied the differences in the quintessence in the Paladins, their family and friends.” When she heard several gasps, she stopped talking and looked around. “What?”

Veronica responded first in a confused tone. “Did you get permission to run tests on us? Does my brother know about this, or Keith?”

Lance responded dryly. “Please calm her down before she feels the need to call me.”

The green Paladin rolled her eyes before she spoke. “It is not an intrusive test, and yes I got permission from those I interviewed. Besides, your mom said it tickled. James, fun fact, apparently, all McClain’s are ticklish.” 

James laughed so loud, it was hard to hear what Veronica said. “Oh my, hanging out with any of the Holts is never boring. Veronica, please know the Holt family gets over excited about science, but they would never put someone in harm’s way.”

“I am so getting phone calls later. Thanks.” Lance’s defeated tone had Pidge mumbled sorry then faced out the window again.

Veronica took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “Pidge, I am sorry I overreacted. If you need another data point, I will volunteer. I am willing to talk to others if you need more information, we can talk later.”

A genuine smile graced her lips. “Thank you, Veronica, that would be nice.” 

About thirty ticks later, Lance whispered. “I don’t know how the machine actually works, but we used it.” His speeder connected with Red and he moved to his pilot seat. Once at the controls, he switched to Red’s interface. “We are not a match, surprise, surprise.” His face held a sadness, but he was not broken.

She could see his face, but he could not see hers because of her viewing screen. “I am sorry.” She took a deep breath. “Does it still bother you?”

A small grin graced his lips as he chose his words carefully. “No. It is just… Well, we both felt a connection to other people. She saw someone she knows, but she didn’t tell me who. I told her I would help her if she wanted, but she said no. We didn’t tell anyone about what happened, especially Coran. We’re not embarrassed, but just processing, you know. Veronica keeps telling my family that I should ask Allura out. Then, in the last few weeks, Hunk started in with Veronica too. We knew the possible outcomes, but I think we were both shocked.” His eyes held a dreamy far away look. “I never saw my match, but she said something to me. We were talking and I heard her voice. She said something and it sounded so familiar and calm. It was if we had known each other forever. Like I know her.” His eyes focused back on the controls as he pushed buttons. “Now, my question. Should I trust what I saw, or is this a bunch of magic mumbo jumbo? If I trust it, should I try to find her or wait for her to find me?”

“As a Paladin, I have seen my fair share of strange magic. It goes against my logical nature, but I would trust you saw something real. What does your instinct tell you? To wait or to search?”

He chuckled as Red went into motion. “I agree with Red, we need to find her. We can’t sit and wait. We are about action.” Lance smirked at the camera. “Well, I need to make it back to the Garrison to talk to Keith. Thanks Pidge.”

The car stopped outside the Garrison the same instant she said “night”. Then, Lance faded from field of view. She took off her glasses and felt exposed. Glancing at James, she saw his eyes watching her. “I’m off the phone.” She focused on the sunset in the distance as she exited the vehicle.

His playful tone drifted through the air as the rest of his team approached. James, Veronica, Ina, Ryan and Nadia all stopped near the entrance to the building. “Did he at least say thank you?”

Panic rose in Pidge’s chest causing her to freeze as she thought back on her word choices. She never referred to the other person on the line as male. ‘Does he know what we were talking about?’

Veronica’s hands moved quickly through the air as she spoke. “Lance, say thank you, ha!” Before Pidge could panic more, Veronica explained. “He said that I should stay out of it. It was not my business. He is my brother and I want him happy. Why can’t he see that?”

Ina added her analysis. “Well, he maybe your baby brother, but people change. It’s been 5 years since he left Earth.”

Without meaning too, Pidge turned and faced Ina. “Actually, we only ages 2 years since we left Earth. When the Castle of Lions was detonated, the infinite mass explosion caused a chain reaction. While time passed for the rest of the Universe, it stood still for us. Therefore, we all only aged 2 years, while the people of Earth aged 5.” She paused for a moment and then corrected herself. “Well, except, Keith had left us for a little while, and when he came back he had aged two years. So, Keith would be about twenty. Yes, twenty. Hunk and Lance are eighteen, while I’m sixteen. Well, give or take any time anomalies I didn’t factor in. Plus, I wouldn’t know how to calculate Shiro’s age considering he had died and is now living in his clone’s body.” The group staring at her made her shift a step back. A frown etched her face as she tried to step past Ryan. “Forget I said anything.” 

When Veronica spoke, she sounded like Lance. “Pidge, wait. Have you had dinner yet? You could join us?” Pidge turned around slowly and Veronica could tell the Paladin wanted to say no. “Please, we do not have to talk about the other Paladins or Garrison stuff.”

With her mask firmly in place, Pidge shook her head no. Instead, the five of them reminded her of the five Paladins. Veronica was shooting daggers at James and he was loving it. She didn’t want to be the one to tell Lance if something started between those two. Nadia, Ina and Ryan were watching the two with a mixture of frustration to boredom. Back to her dilemma of eating dinner with this new group. They a chance to redeem themselves. “I have one question. What would you say if someone called you a nerd?”

Without hesitation, Ina regarded Pidge and answered. “Thank you.”

Nadia laughed and put her arm on Ina’s shoulder. “Priceless. You are priceless and I love you.” She turned her attention back to the Paladin. “Pidge, thank you for putting up with those two. We will leave you to your night and we can hang out some other time. We know you are busy. Come on guys, let her be. You guys come on way to strong.”

Before Pidge could say anything, Nadia, Ina and Ryan walked into the building with Veronica and James following a few seconds behind. 

As if on cue, her small communicator signaled a message that family dinner night was cancelled. She would need to get dinner. She could get someone to drive her home or she could stop by the cafeteria here. Stepping inside the Garrison, she made her way to the cafeteria. She selected a peanut butter sandwich, a peanut butter cookie, milk, a small pack of carrots and strawberry yogurt. 

The dining room had only one table with people at it and they did seem nice. Her dad talked about James being rough around the edges, and he reminded her of a cross between Keith and Matt. Ryan was like, Hunk, but quieter. Veronica was definitely Lance’s sister. Therefore, Pidge walked straight up to them and sat between Ina and Ryan without asking.

James, Nadia and Veronica sat on one side and Ryan, Pidge and Ina sat on the other. Ryan was quietly eating as James, who sat across from him, talked nonstop. Meanwhile, Nadia talked animatedly to Veronica about some upcoming ceremony. 

Pidge had just taken a bite of her food when Ina turned to Pidge and asked. “Statically speaking, how long do Paladins live?”

No one spoke as Pidge swallowed hard. “Excuse me?”

Ina showed a general interest in the question. “What is the life expectancy of a Paladin?” Unlike others, Ina only wanted to know for practical reasons. “Given the history of Voltron, how long do you expect to be a Paladin?”

Scanning the quiet table, she noticed they weren’t staring, just shocked. Pidge chuckled to herself, took a drink and focused on Ina. “I’m not sure how long the original Paladins lived. As for the current Paladins, three of us have been a Paladin for over two years. Not sure how long we will have. That is hard to predict.”

Calculating her words, Ina paused for a moment. “You said Shiro died. What did you mean?”

Ryan came to Pidge’s rescue. “Ina, now is not the time for such questions. You don’t have to answer her.”

She stopped to purposely make eye contact with each of them. “No, it’s okay. Please keep this between us.” Pidge stopped on Veronica. “Our families do not need to know all the details or how dangerous things get. We understand the risks, but I am not sure some of our families would fully accept our decision.”

Veronica whispered to the group. “As a kid, Lance was always curious, but he was never fearless. If we got into trouble, he would take the blame. Everyone knew I had talked him into it. Pidge, your right, our families do not need to know about all parts of our jobs. Tell us only the parts you feel comfortable. But I would love to learn more about his new life and friends.”

“Originally, Shiro was the Black Paladin, Keith was Red, Lance was Blue, Hunk was Yellow and I was the Green.” Pidge took another bite of her food to give herself time to choose her words carefully. “We fought Zarkon in a battle and Shiro disappeared. Zarkon almost died, and we didn’t know where to find Shiro. Keith became the Black Paladin. We were called into battle and…” She chuckled to herself. “Blue refused Lance. He said all sorts of pickup lines to get a response. He said…”

James looked confused for a moment. “Why?”

Veronica answered. “Lance was the biggest flirt on the planet. He flirted with his fifth-grade teacher to raise his grade in science. Didn’t work, but he said it was worth a try.”

Pidge smirked for an instant and then it was gone. “Biggest flirt in the Universe actually. Blue refused him. Red respected his loyalty to the team in Keith being the Black Paladin, so Red picked Lance as Paladin. Then, Blue picked Allura.” She paused slightly to choose her words carefully. “We found Shiro or he found us. Some stuff happened and Shiro turned against us. Keith saved the Shiro, well sort of, with Allura’s help. The Castle was destroyed, and we made our way to Earth.”

Nadia smiled at the smallest Paladin before she spoke. “What did you miss most about Earth, besides your family?”

Without hesitation, Pidge answered honestly. “I didn’t miss Earth. My mom, yes. Earth, no.” Looking at her plate, she reconsidered. “Maybe peanut butter cookies.” She glanced around the table and saw their surprise. “Okay, what do you think you would miss about Earth, besides family?” 

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Food. I like a home cooked meal. What’s the food like?”

Pidge was amused by his question. “Hunk can make any dish great. After the space mall, he became a connoisseur of good food. We would not have survived without him.”

Smirking, Nadia eyes sparkled with mischief. “I would say malls, but should like they have those too. Could you show me around?”

Pidge nodded and took a bite of her cookie. “I am not sure the Paladins would be welcomed back. We got into trouble. It was fun, we bought a gaming system and got a free Kaltenecker.”

It was good, but Pidge almost choked when Veronica decided to chime in. “Varadero beach, pizza shack looking over the water, garlic knots and my… Are you okay?”

She swallowed hard as her face turned red. The innocent look on Veronica’s face, made Pidge clear her throat before speaking. “Your mom’s hugs?”

Before Veronica could answer, Lance sat down at the same end as James and Ryan. “Who’s mom, your or mine?”

Veronica, Pidge, and Nadia had jumped when he sat down. Pidge recovered fastest. “What did you miss most about Earth?”

In Lance fashion, he answered straight from his heart. “Well, Varadero beach, the pizza shack by the water, garlic knots, my mom’s hugs and a good sunset. Why?” James, Ryan and Nadia laughed so hard, Lance looked at them as if they were aliens. “Pidge care to fill me in what is funny.”

Ina rescued the red faced Paladin. “Your sister almost had the exact same answer. Well, minus the sunset.”

Lance scanned Veronica, who seemed deep in thought and then he scanned Pidge. When she wouldn’t look at him and laughter died down, he spoke. “I always wondered what I would have packed if I knew I was leaving. What about you Pidge?”

For a minute, she studied his face. She knew he would never say anything to intentionally hurt her, but she was afraid to answer. “I did pack for leaving.”

“No, you packed supplies to save your brother, father, Shiro, and unknowingly the universe. What would you pack now that it is about you? Would you pack sunblock and bug spray?” When she finally looked at him, Lance found her far of look as if she was process information. “I would pack my face products, shampoo and lotion. Don’t get me wrong the Altean stuff is great, but I missed the stuff from Earth.”

More to herself, Nadia added in. “I would bring a deck of cards. You can learn a lot about a person playing Rummy. My grandma taught me how to play and it has always stuck with me.” 

“Football,” said Ryan as he smiled at Nadia. “Maybe, even a basketball.”

Ina politely added her thoughts. “Swimming relaxes me. How are the pools?”

“Stay away from Altean pools.” When everyone but Pidge appeared offended, Lance continued. “They are on the ceiling.” For dramatic effect, he looked at the ceiling. “Not fun.”

A laugh so loud and contagious filled the air as Pidge’s face turned red. “Being sucked into a pool was better that the ship’s safety being off and a hologram almost eating you.” 

Lance waves her off as he chuckled. “You are so dramatic, Coran said it won’t kill you. You could have ended up in the healing pod, but you are smart. You would have figured it out.” His eyes held mischief as he spoke, almost daring her to argue. “I mean, it didn’t take long to get past the beginner level.”

Rolling her eyes, Pidge grabbed her yogurt off her tray and passed it to Lance. “You already knew more than one language, of course you could pick it up faster than me. Some of us can’t make those weird sounds.”

“You know at least as many languages as I do if not more. Yours just require a computer.” He opened the lid and passed back her food. “Please don’t list them all. Some of us would like to get sleep tonight.”

Pidge frowned when she realized she had no spoon. When she looked up, Veronica held out a fresh spoon. She reached out took the spoon and used it for her yogurt. “Computer languages don’t count, you use translators to convert the text. Plus, if the virus is in a different language… they can’t… break it… Another language… We need another language.”

Glancing around the table, Lance winked at his sister. Her eyes held that far off calculating look Lance knew all too well. “Pidge? Pidge?” In a low whisper he counted down from three. “Three… two… one.”

“That’s it, Lance you’re a genius. I can imbed code into the system. Not a virus, but like a virus.” Pidge jumped up from her seat, her food forgotten. “I need to go, I have to try this out. Wait, the system will recalibrate at midnight. I have time to write it, test it and let it go live before the server reboots. Then, I can get some sleep and check on it in after a full cycle.” Her eyes focused on each member at the table, then stopped on Lance. “I gotta go. It’s been, well, um…”

“Please get some sleep tonight and don’t crash the system. You know how cranky everyone gets when the computers try to kill us.” His eyes held no judgement, only concern.

She responded without blushing. “I promise to get a least three hours of sleep.” Then, she took a few steps back.

“Eight.’ He countered.

“Five?” As she moved backwards toward the door.

“Seven.”

Pidge’s eyes lit up with mischief. “Six is my final offer.”

Shaking his head, Lance answered. “Six, it is.” As she was leaving he shook his head. “Goodnight Pidge.”


	4. The battle begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The coalition found more information about the threat. Only the team must split up to learn more.
> 
> What if something goes wrong?

Walking in late was one thing, walking in with everyone waiting for you was another. Pidge opened the door to find James team on one side of the table and the Paladins on the other. They all stared at her as she entered. Pidge yawned as she sat next to Keith in the conference room, but no one said anything. 

She ignored the knowing glances from Lance, Nadia and Veronica. For over a week, she worked on upgrades to the Atlas defense system. The project would be farther along if she didn’t have to explain to everyone the plan or what her code meant. Lance had at least convinced James and his team, not to ask questions all the time. It appeared Keith, Lance and Hunk had made amends with James, which meant she needed to be nice as well. 

Shiro, Iverson and Sam walked into the room and stood at the end of the table. As the table came to life with a 3D rendering of the nearby city, all eyes fell focused on three nearby red lights. 

Shiro glanced around the table, then to Sam, and then focused on the city. “Thank you all for coming. We have information from the new coalition about three unknown visitors on Earth that did not arrive per the Altean gate. They are not considered a threat at this time, but we need to gather more information. We have narrowed down their locations to here, here and here.” Pointing with his good arm to the three locations, Shiro glanced back at Sam.

The older Holt smiled kindly at James, then Keith as his fatherly voice carried throughout the room. “We thought if we send out small teams to move about in these sections we could seem less threatening. Keith and Pidge can float in the center between the three locations.” He pointed to the one on the right and focused on Hunk. “This section here has different machining parts and it is located close to Vrepit Sal. Hunk and Ryan could be seen in this section at anytime without question.” Pointing to the centrally located one, Sam eyes roamed toward James. “James, Ina and Nadia have worked with the shops in this area before and after the war. The shop owners might tell you more than they would tell us.”

Lance started shaking his head no and his hand started tapping on the table. He leaned toward Keith and whispered. “This is a mistake.”

Keeping his composure, Shiro spoke for all to hear. “Lance? Do you have something you want to say?” 

When Lance’s hand clenched in frustration, James knew he had to speak up. “Lance, you have an eye for strategic deployment. Do you think the teams are wrong?”

“Hunk is too nervous in these situations, he starts rambling. Worse that Pidge.” Lance ignored Pidge’s comment and continued with a smirk. “Keith and Allura can go to Sal for Hunk. Ryan is a sharpshooter, and should scout high here to the North.” He pointed to the tower Pidge was in front of yesterday. “The other high location is this one. I can cover the whole area to the South.” Glancing at Keith, Lance stopped fidgeting. “Pidge and Veronica can scan the area and check out the last location.”

Keith put his hand on Lance’s shoulder and shook his head. “One small modification. James goes with Pidge and Veronica. Ina and Nadia can handle the shops. What do you think James?”

James cheerfully answered. “I trust you and your team. I would like to add that we leave at different times and we should keep communication to a minimum while we are off the base. Ryan and Lance, should go first and get into position. Then, Pidge, Veronica and myself. Next, Ina and Nadia. Keith and Allura can go in last. Oh and Keith, can I talk to you in private before you leave?” 

Ryan and Lance nodded in agreement, while Keith stood. “Sharpshooter, take point.” Keith grinned at his joke. Lance bumped him as he stood and walked out shaking his head. “Rest of you get ready.” 

Most of the room emptied quickly, but Pidge lingered by the door. Keith and James examined the map as Pidge tried her best to blend into the wall. Curiosity got the better of her so she decided to ease drop on the two leaders.

“James, thank you for helping with Lance. As a former Red Paladin, impulse control can be a problem.” He chuckled at himself and then pointed to the tower. “He never said a word, but he is expecting a fight and if you noticed carefully, he took the most exposed spot.”

“Ryan noticed, but he won’t say anything. My team understands that Lance is second in command of the Paladins. Also, after dinner last night, they trust him. We will do our best to protect your team, but I wanted to talk to you about..”

Keith held up his hand to stop James and then his hawk like eyes landed on the hidden Paladin. “Pidge, did you need something?” 

As Pidge and Keith had a silent argument, James formulated his thoughts. “Clever, you stayed behind and used the shadows. I was just about to talk about you.” When they focused on him, James continued. “You are entitled to your privacy, and you are great at covering your thoughts and feelings, probably as good as Keith.”

“So?”

Sighing, James moved past Keith and approach her. “Trust is a funny thing. It is hard to build and easy to break. We live very dangerous lives and our lives maybe shorter than most. I live inside the rules.” When she rolled her eyes, he laughed. “It will be hardest for the two of us to trust each other. You broke more laws than maybe even Keith, but you did it for the right reasons.” Smiling at her, James gestured to two chairs. After she remained rooted to her spot, he continued. “Everyone depends on you for a solution, for an answer and that is a ton of pressure.”

“Do you have a point?”

James’ eyes narrowed on her and his voice turned rough. “A few months ago, while you were still in the hospital, someone walked by your room in the middle of the night. Your door was cracked and this person did not mean to pry but overheard you.”

Keith moved between the two and gestured for her to sit. He didn’t wait long for Pidge follow his direction. “The individual came to him and James came to me with his concerns. James and I talked at length about a few things that happened since leaving Earth. We are safe to trust him. This is not like trusting Lotor.”

She could not keep her irritation of her voice. “Do the others know about this?” 

James answered this time. “Only the one that saw you. As officers, we were trained to watch out for each other. We are the closest in age to the Paladins and some of us had classes together. Older officers would think we are too young for this responsibility. However, Commander Holt, Iverson and Shirogane trust us, all of us.”

Pidge flashed on what she thought was a dream. “Ryan, it was Ryan. What did I say to make him run to you?” Keith sat to her right, James to her left.

James’ eyes softened as he shifted closer to her. “You screamed. Ryan rushed in. He found you alone and crying. You were half asleep. He got you to lay back down.” He didn’t take offence when she moved slightly away from him. “You called him Lance and said the names Ezor and Zetrid.”

Questioning eyes landed on Keith as a wave of emotions hit her full force that she was not ready to process. “Besides the ones who were there, who else knows the full story of what happened?” She stared at the table in front of her not trusting herself to ask more questions.

James’ voice dropped to a whisper. “Keith told me. The others do not need to know unless things become a problem. We need to know if you are having problems sleeping?”

“I’m fine.” When they stated to argue, Pidge cut them off. “No really, I’m fine now. When we first got home it was a problem, but now no nightmares. Promise.” When the silence stretched out, she looked at Keith and then James. “I’m telling the truth.” Her frowned deepened as she looked back and forth at them. “I really don’t know.” She took a deep breath and rambled. “I miss the castle, my room, my lab and even miss Kaltenecker, but don’t tell Lance. If I knew what was off, I would tell you. It is as if I am missing pieces.” 

Keith tilted his head and make eye contact with James. “Okay. We believe you about the nightmares and if you sense something is wrong, please tell me. We rely on our instincts.”

Chuckling at James confused expression, Pidge continued. “It is an alien word for cow. Remember the space mall I told you about, the shop is called Area 51, and you get a free Kalternecker with purchase. Lance helped me find enough money to buy a game from the store. I kept the game, Lance kept the cow.”

Keith nodded in agreement and then spoke with a far-off look. “Really great milkshakes. Hunk came up with so many favors. We should have him cook a meal for the team.”

Laughter came from Pidge as her mind wondered to Allura. “Oh, but don’t offer them to Allura or Coran. They watched Lance milk Kalternecker and they were freaked out. They loved milkshakes before they found out where we get milk.”

Keith nodded to James. “James, did that answer your questions or do you have more?”

James stood up with a confused look on his face. “I’m good. Also, I mean no disrespect, but you guys are so weird. Every time you talk about your experiences in space you say things I am not expecting.” Shaking his head as he headed toward the door. “Lance can milk a cow, wonder if Veronica can.” Then, he left.

Pidge stood to leave but was stopped by Keith’s hand on her arm. His eyes were reading her face, so she tried to head him off. “I am fine. I am sorry you had to ease things over with James.”

“Why didn’t you come to me about the dreams?” 

It reminded her of Shiro and it made her exhale loudly. “It was only a couple of times and you are busy with other stuff.”

“Really?” His eyes narrowed into disbelief. “Allura comes to with human questions that she is embarrassed to ask others. Hunk opens with very little prodding. Lance shows up in my room when I least expect it to tell me what is on his mind. You never had a problem talking to Shiro. I want you to feel comfortable to talk to me. We have been through so much and we are still a team.”

Plopping down in her seat, she faced him. “I don’t know. I was excited to see my mom and it is great having my family but...” Sighing she lowered her voice. “I don’t have a driver’s license, not even a permit. When I ran away from home, I hacked several computers to create Pidge. Pidge accomplished more than Katie ever did. Here I am Sam and Colleen’s daughter and Matt’s little sister. Pidge is a Paladin, with a driver’s license, high school diploma, respect of the Garrison, even a girlfriend.”

Keith let go of her arm and stood up. “Katie is Pidge. Meet me by the car before you leave, I might be able to help with the first item on your list. If not, I will see what I can do about getting what you need. After all, the Garrison has extensive files on us..” 

She walked out into the hall and found Veronica and James waiting for her. She was grateful they never asked questions. Grabbing her bag from her dad’s lab, they walked to the car. When the other two got in, she opened her door and threw in her bag. She mumbled, “Keith told me to wait for him here.”

Keith ran up to her and shoved some paperwork into her hand. His eyes focused on James and he issued an order. “First, you need to make a stop. Pidge knows where.” Turning his attention back to Pidge, Keith placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come to me when you have problems.” He winked at her eye roll. “Have fun and remember you do not have auto correcting abilities without Green.”

Looking at the paperwork, she smiled. “Head to second street. I need to read this book real fast.” Ignoring the others, she got in the back seat and started reading. Once finished, she read it again.

Arriving on 2nd street, Pidge jumped out of the car and ran into the large building. The place had just opened, and it did not have much of a line. She showed all her paperwork and was handed a test. In less than five minutes, she turned the test in for her grade. 

“Perfect score.” The lady behind the desk said in a cheerful tone. “That will be twenty dollars.”

Before the shock could wear off, Pidge observed Veronica handed over the money. Lance’s sister said something and handed a piece of paper to Pidge. She snapped out of it when she realized James and Veronica where staring. On the top of the piece of paper was the words Driver’s Permit and the name Katie Holt.

Playfully James addressed Pidge. “Are we going to stand here all day? Or do you want to drive us to our destination?” She took all her paperwork and walked to the car. James handed her the keys, so Pidge got behind the driver’s seat. She moved into the seat up, so she could touch the petals. Silently she hoped neither passenger would mention her height. 

James moved her paperwork but paused to examine it closely and decided to comment. “How come you go by Pidge? Katie is a pretty name.”

She heard Veronica mumble something about males, but both James and Pidge ignored it. Starting the engine, she pulled out into traffic. The walkie talking came to life and James picked it and adjusted the volume. 

Pidge rambled, as she steered the vehicle down the streets and pass several shops. “I hated the name Pidge. Matt was relentless with calling me Pidge all the time. The only time I could get him to stop was when I was really, really upset. Like the day they made fun of the fact I was a nerd in school. It was the same day Matt came home with the news he got into the Garrison. I was excited for him, but I was going to miss him. I wanted to study even harder, so I could work with him and dad someday. By the time they were leaving, I realized how much I would miss being called Pidge. The name grew on me. Matt would even call me that on our correspondence. I contacted them every day at first, but when they reach Kerberos. They said they would contact me after collecting their first ice sample.” She told herself to relax, but she couldn’t stop talking. “It didn’t take me long to realize something was wrong. So, I needed information so I hacked into the Garrison. When the information was not enough, I knew I need to find out more. The next day I walked down the stairs to my mom crying to a news report that they were dead. Pilot error. Only I had spoken to them right after they landed so that was a lie. Therefore, I felt compelled to break into the Garrison a couple of time. Okay five times. Finally, I made my way to Iverson’s office and found evidence it wasn’t a crash. He caught me and had me removed. He said if I showed up again I would be put in jail.” She made her final turn and stopped for the red light. “So, I went home, hacked into at least twenty different systems and created Pidge Gunderson. Pidge has never taken a test, but Pidge has a driver’s licenses, passport, high school diploma and passed all the required exams to get into the Garrison. Pidge passed his physical and has no incidences on his permanent record. Pidge would have access to everything Katie did not. So, Katie, stole her brother’s clothes, cut off her hair and left without telling her mom why. Katie had to disappear, so Pidge could find Katie’s family. I almost tripped up a few times, but I was able to keep most people at arm’s length. I am really good at that. The only one I had a hard time keep distance from...” She parked the car and turned off the engine. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter, family calls me Katie, my friends call me Pidge.” Handing back the keys, she turned to get out of the vehicle.

“Wow, first, I didn’t know someone could talk that fast. Second, I think you told me more about yourself today than in the entire time I have known you. Third, didn’t you have friends before you left Earth?” James regretted his question as soon as it left his lips based off the change in Pidge’s features.

“Not really.” Quickly, she extracted herself from James’ grip and exited the vehicle. They were standing on sidewalk when she reached the other side. It was clear Veronica was upset with James.

Veronica held out Pidge’s bag for her as she whispered. “How about next time we let James ride in the back or we leave him behind?” Linking arms, Veronica winked as she steered them toward the first building. “So, do you have any stories about my baby brother that I can tell Marco and Luis?”

After shaking her head no, Pidge scanned the area for any unusual activity or anywhere for a person to hide. Her scans came up empty causing her to change tactics.

James walked beside the two females with a confused look on his face. “Veronica, do you know how to milk a cow?” James communicator beeped from its holster so he picked it up and pressed the button at the same time Pidge spoke.

“Why did you bring that up?” Amber eyes studied blue as Pidge shifted. “Veronica, do you remember the story about the space mall?” When she nodded yes, Pidge continued. “Well, Kalternecker is an alien word for cow.”

Getting over her initial shock, Veronica turned to Pidge. “My brother owns a cow and knows how to milk it?”

“Veronica, are you saying you don’t know how to milk a cow?” James added in before releasing the button on the radio.

Over the radio the team heard Lance’s voice sounding irritated. “Why would you tell them about Kalternecker? She is not their concern.”

Pidge tapped the communicator on her wrist and turned to face the empty square as her voice shifted to her sweet kid voice. “It came up in conversation. Besides, she is half mine and we should have some milkshakes at dinner.”

“Which half?”

“North.”

Veronica and James eyes skimmed the scene in front of them as they caught up on the code.

Next, Nadia voice carried over the radio. “Lance would make a milkshake for Ryan because he’s never seen one?”

A minute goes by and no one spoke. Pidge wondered if she imaged the blip on her screen or if it was real. She knew the others could see the same image as her, so she scanned again. Then, in the distance, Pidge saw a figure running toward them. As she grew closer, Pidge recognized her as the female pilot, Oliv, that was a rebel friend of Matt’s. She waved her arms to signal them to run, but Pidge stood their frozen. As another figure appeared behind Oliv with a gun raised, Pidge said only one word. “Lance.”

Both Oliv and her attacker fell to the ground before Pidge heard the first shot. Pidge shot forward to get to Oliv to check on her vitals. Pidge arrived to find Oliv leg hurt, but otherwise she was fine. She assumed it was a trip that caused her to fall. Pidge turned on her microphone to tell the others to bring a medic when a voice spoke behind her.

The figure that fell at the same time as Oliv lifted his head as blood poured from his chest wound. He stared at Pidge. “Tell the other Paladins, you will all die slowly and painfully.” His hand opened and a grenade rolled toward Pidge. 

Calculating her distance to safety with Oliv in tow and factoring in James and Veronica running speed toward them, Pidge had to react quickly. She touched her wrist unit and a barrier formed protecting Oliv and her from the grenade. Shielding the pilot with her body, Pidge closed her eyes. Faintly she heard yelling from the communicator, but she didn’t have time to talk before the explosion. 

Time slowed as the blast wave pushed her to the ground. She heard muffled sounds of objects hitting the ground nearby. She opened her eyes and her vision filled with gray little sparkles. 

Her hand reached to the left and found nothing. She reached to the right and found Oliv. 

Sitting up, she felt dizzy. Still she reached for her communicator and found it cracked in half. Her hand went for Oliv neck and found her pulse. 

Her eyes focused on the two figures on the ground a good ten feet away. When Pidge tried to stand she could not get her legs to respond. She opted to crawl over to the figures. 

Quickly, she reaching Veronica and checked for vitals. She found Veronica alive, but unconscious. 

As she shifted to James, Pidge looked up and saw a figure off in the distance. All shapes were blurry, but it is Galra. She blinked and it was familiar, someone she knew but angry and hateful. The Galra had suffered burns in an explosion, just not this one. Her brain was too fuzzy to tell her the figure’s name, but she knew it would come to her later. Her eyes drift for a moment to James as he shifts from his position. Tracking back to the Galra, she found the figure gone. 

Green connected to her Paladin and the world took on a green hue. Green’s barrier blanketed the four survivors as a feeling of reassurance flowed through her. Her insides told her to wait here and protect the fallen. Her mind raced with questions she could not answer and silently she dared the figure to come back.

Pidge checked James’ pulse and finds him alive so she shifted forward to grab his communicator. Her brain said to get reinforcements so she opened a channel and spoke. “Send medics. Repeat send medics.” Everything came back muffled, but Green translated a question about the count of survivors. “James is moving, Veronica and Oliv are alive, but no one is fully conscious. They need medical teams. We have the area secure.” 

Movement in the area between two building beyond Green’s barrier caught Pidge’s eyes and caused her to stand. Little black dots danced in her field of vision, but she stayed upright. Once they were gone, Green informed her the new arrivals were the real Keith and Allura. Closing her eyes and told Green to allow them to pass. Green sent Pidge reassurance that he was coming. She didn’t know who ‘he’ was, but she felt a surge of energy knowing he was on his way. 

Pidge watched as Veronica sat up and said something, only it was completely quiet. She heard no sound, not even her own movements or her own breathing. For good measure, she pointed to her ears and shook her head no. Veronica appear to yell this time, but Pidge heard nothing. Veronica’s face showed understanding as she pointed to Pidge’s side. 

Suddenly, Keith was on her left and his mouth was moving. Green told her that Black was checking if she was okay. She looked at him and said, “I’m okay. Check the others.” 

He leaned back and started at her for a moment as if gauging his next move, then nodded okay. He pointed in the direction where Pidge left Oliv and saw Allura using her Altean magic. Keith moved closer to James as his lips moved as he spoke to Veronica. Pidge figured Veronica would tell Keith that she couldn’t hear them.

Pidge saw her bag lying a few feet away, so she walked over and attempted to pick it up with her left hand. When she tried to raise her left arm, all she felt was a sharp pain that connected from her forearm to her skull. Without hesitation, she used her right hand to pick up the bag and pulled it to her chest. She scanned the area for threats, the return of the figure, places to move the injured in case another attack and what it would take to undo the damage from today.

Next, she watched as Nadia, Ina and Ryan run up to Keith. Keith’s lips moved again as Ryan looked over at Pidge. He pointed to Allura and then to Nadia while saying something. Nadia ran toward Allura with a bag of supplies in her arms.

Green sent another round on thoughts. Black and Blue were protecting them and the others were coming. Green sent an image of a beach during a sunset that sent a wave a heat through her. Her heightened thoughts questioned why she didn’t chase the figure. 

Ryan picked up the radio and relayed messages to an outside force to bring medics for the injured. 

She whispered to herself. “Help is coming, it is almost here. We can find her, she didn’t get far.” Turning toward Pidge, Ryan was three steps away from her when he froze. It was an unusual look for his face, which caused her to look around at the rest of the team. Everyone was focused on her. Focusing back on Ryan, Pidge said, “I can’t hear anything, but other than that I’m fine. We need to protect the witness, Matt knows her. Is she okay?” Her eyes drifted over to Oliv, who was awake and staring at her too. 

Green pulsed with reassurance as vehicles arrived transporting Garrison personal. The little black dots returned as she moved her head to face Ryan. Her bag fell to the ground as her bayard appeared in her hand. The comforting green glow combined with something else told her to hold on a little longer. Glancing up a Ryan, she focused on the movement behind him. 

Green send another jolt only it had a darker tinge not meant for her. She saw many faces coming closer, but she knew to wait. Several got to close and she would have responded, but Keith physically pulled one back.

Lance’s voice drifted toward her like a blanket and she blinked. “Pidge?” His tall form was right behind Ryan. His hand reached out for her Bayard and she imaged others yelling things. His voice was so soft and nervous. “Pidge?” When she shook her head no, he froze.

Her mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions; all centered around him. She could see his face in crystal clarity and his voice was the only sound she could hear. “Lance, do we defend and fight. We can make a stand here.” His worried expression touched her, but she wished he would understand. “Lance, please don’t make this harder.”

His blue eyes flickered from confusion to reasoning to understanding. His body straightened as if at attention as his eyes narrowed on her before he spoke. “Please tell Green to let go and hand me your bayard.” His gentle voice sounded calm.

“Lance, I’m fine, but my head hurts. We need to…”

“Tell Green to let go, Pidge. She needs to let go. They both do. Please.” 

Her hand with the bayard moved to Matt’s throat in a flash. Confusion etched her words. “What?” Her eyes never leaving Lance. “Lance, I don’t understand.”

“Pidge, please tell Green to let go.” Lance stepped between her and Ryan. “Area secure, we do not need to fight. Tell Green to let go.” Slowly, he raised his hand toward her bayard. “Keith, make it an order! She can’t take much more!”

She eyes wondered over to Keith, who was closer than before, and then back to Lance. He eyes held the intensity she wanted. “Lance won’t let them hurt me. Green you can let go now.” 

Her bayard slid out of her hand and she saw Lance slide it to Keith.

Her eyes focused on his and found them full of worry. “I’m okay. We need to get Oliv to safety before Zethrid returns.” She watched as Lance and Keith tense for a split second. She figured they each were calculating the lucidity of her statement. 

Keith put his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “At least she stopped yelling, but she is not fine. Lance, get her back to the Atlas and have Coran help. I’ll meet you there soon. Matt, are you okay?”

Reaching down and picking up his sister’s bag, Matt used his free hand to rub his neck. “That is the second time she almost took my head off with that thing.”

For an instant, Lance reached out and touched her good arm. Then, the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if you like my story at all by Kudos or comments.  
> If you don't like it please tell me why.
> 
> I want others to enjoy my story.


	5. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Pidge recover? What was she feeling?
> 
> Will the team lose the Green Paladin?

A fog settled over Pidge’s mind as she tried to wake up. She felt a compulsion to get up and move toward the danger. He was in danger, but again Pidge did not know which he. She needed to act quickly and swiftly if she was to save his life. 

Her mind replayed the explosion, Keith and Allura helping the injured, the rest of the MFE showing up and talking to Lance. Keith wanted her to go to the Garrison, for protection. 

Protection for who? She did not need protection.

Pain radiated from Pidge’s chest causing her eyes to open. Her parents stood a few feet away with their backs turned speaking to her doctor. To her right, James had a doctor checking his vitals and Veronica sat on the other side of James. ‘They should be fine, no major injuries.’ To her left, Oliv talked with a doctor and Matt. ‘Also, fine.’

Agitation slammed into Pidge so hard her head hurt again. Parts of her body felt heavy and sluggish as voices shifted around her. Her mind flashed back to Green sending her images of the beach. The smell of a summer day at the beach filled her nose as if it was a distant memory.

A sharp pain flared in her left arm and she tried to pull it away from the source of misery. It was then, her instincts told her to fight, she was the fastest and she needed to prove she was temperamental. A dull throb at the side of her head increased when she tried to move her arm again and failed. She waited until no one was looking and reached the other side of the bed and disconnected a strap holding her arm down. 

As the doctor spoke to her parents she felt her body heat up again. 

“Something is wrong.” Her voice scared her and caused the room to focus on her. A growl ripped passed her lips as her vision turned red and she bolted upright. The surprise of the doctors was only momentary. When the shock wore off, the doctor next to Matt brandished a needle while staring at her. 

In a flash, she had grabbed the needle, jumped out of bed and stood by the door. Judging her audiences shocked reaction, she needed to find him, so she turned and ran. 

She felt another jolt and thought about getting weapons causing her to stop in the hallway. It was not in her nature to care about fighting and finding weapons. 

When she started running again, she picked the best place to strategize and defend. Instinctually, she new where to go and what she needed. Everyone she passed gave her little to no resistance the longer she traveled.

Once she reached her destination, Pidge walked into Green’s new hanger. The sight before her stunned her to her core. The Green lion normally took up a third of the floor space. However, Red sat up against the far wall. Green leaned in as if Red was comforting her. No, hugging her. 

Pidge fell to her knees and let the tears fall. Her body felt drained and she didn’t know how to fix this. She couldn’t think straight, but she was so tired she didn’t care. As the door opened, Pidge didn’t bother to turn around. Wiping the tears away, Pidge cleared her throat and slouched forward. “Do you know what’s happening to me?”

Lance stood motionless on the far-left side of the room staring at Red. Normally a ball of energy, he appeared like a statue. The only part of him in motion were his eyes, as if calculating the next step.

Pidge hated the silence so she snapped the only person in the room, Lance. “I know from the attacker that they are not targeting the people of Earth or the Garrison, they are targeting the Paladins.” She glanced at Lance. “Do you notice the green speckles on the ground from the blast?”

His eyes stayed fixed on the lions. 

“In the air, it was little gray speckles.” Pidge sat up straight as if electrocuted. “In that form, it is highly reformed quintessence that is genetically engineered to break down pure quintessence. It should have killed me.” 

Lance kept his eyes on the lions, but sounded far away. “Green did more than send you messages. She sent you her quintessence. She saved your life and deactivate the genetically engineered microbes. She kept feeding you as long as she could to keep you alive.”

Pidge brought her knees to and wrapped her arms around her legs. “If you had asked me while some of it was happening, I thought Green was there sitting behind James and Veronica.” Her eyes wondered over to Lance. “It was a perfect circle of my movement, right? The energy followed me from Oliv to Veronica.” She had a hard time making eye contact, so she focused on Green. “I could have sworn I saw Zethrid at the edge of the clearing. It was way outside the blast radius.” She felt him tensed. “She was badly burned on one side of her body and she was beyond mad.”

“How sure are you?”

Pidge ran her fingers over the edge of her shirt before she spoke in an even tone. “If I reviewed the original footage from that area, I might be able to tell. If I go back out there, I could know for sure.” Her eyes roamed the lions for movements.

A half sob, half whine passed Pidge’s lips. “Green would have been depleted, but Red gave her what she needed. She didn’t mean too, but she gave me some quintessence from Red.” Her mind started to clear, but tiredness threatened to overtake her. “Is that what it feels like to be a Red Paladin? You can’t decide between hitting someone or finding a gun?”

For twenty seconds the room was still. Then, Lance let go a laugh; loud and boisterous. “Not all the time, but you have no idea. It takes time and practice to calm your nerves and mind.” Lance whispered, “patience yields focus.”

Pidge almost missed his statement. “Don’t sign me up for the Red lion.”

Lance countered. “Don’t sign me up for the Green lion.”

It was hard to ask the obvious question, but Pidge fixated on him and asked. “What happens now?”

Lance’s face wore a hard edge. He finally looked over toward Pidge and she could see how drained he appeared. “You’re not going to like the answer. Do you remember what I said about the Altean linking device?”

Pidge swallowed hard. “We have to link our thoughts together like the one’s Coran used? Or the one about relationships you used with…

“No, not exactly.” His face softened, but Lance struggled with an emotion. “The Paladins, MFEs, hell, soon the whole Garrison will know about the device Allura and I used. Well, maybe we can leave out some details.” His eyes darted away.

It was too late for Pidge to crawl into a ball and die. “The word you heard, you figured out it’s source?” 

As Lance spoke, Pidge notice he wore a thin silver bracelet on his right wrist. “No, but the head piece is similar to some bracelets that the Alteans used to heal the sick. The bracelets will cleanse the quintessence within your body.” Lance responded without emotion. “Allura can give you more information, but we have to signal the others they can come into the hanger.” When Pidge nodded yes, Lance walked over to the door and opened it.

Keith, Allura and Hunk hesitated a moment causing Lance to turned and walked back toward the wall. As they entered each of them kept quiet about what they thought. Allura sat to the left of Pidge and Hunk sat to the right. 

Keith stopped in front of Pidge, but stayed focus on Lance. “Ready?” When Lance nodded ‘yes’ to Keith, he signaled to Allura.

Allura kindly smiled at Pidge as she moved a metal bracelet in her lap. “Four of the Paladins were exposed, but as a precaution, anyone present with a certain amount of quintessence in their body must wear one of these until they are free of infection.”

Pidge noticed Allura, Keith and Lance all wore the same bracelet. “Will information be shared between all of us?” For once, she didn’t care about keeping her voice even, she didn’t need everyone getting thoughts and feeling from her. When Allura blushed, Pidge feared the worst.

It was Allura who cautiously answered. “The only information will be the emotional connection shared between Lance and you.”

Pidge exhaled a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Oh good. No offence to you guys, but this is bad enough without everyone in my business.” She felt a weight lift some from her. After a moment, she realized the weight was not on her, it was on Lance. 

Keith squatted in front of Pidge, but he kept some distance between them. “One more thing and you are probably not going to like it either.” He waited for eye contact before continuing. “Because of Green and Red’s interactions, for the next seventy-two hours, you need to stay less than ten feet from Lance at all times.”

Without speaking she held out her right wrist to Allura, Pidge did her best to keep her face clouded.

Sweet and comforting, Allura spoke. “The other wrist please, we need your left.” When she switched arms, Allura carefully adjusted the size and clasped it closed. “Keith, it will increase over the next hour and then sustain her until her readings have stabilize.” When Allura spoke Keith’s name, they both stood.

Keith slowly approached Hunk. “Are you ready to go?” When Hunk nodded yes, he helped him stand. “Nadia, Ina and Ryan are outside and they will have your back. They will help you collect all the samples you need and don’t worry James and his team are professionals and they take their job seriously.” 

Hunk’s nervousness had him fidgeting with his hands. “Can we have Matt too? His coding skill are good and it will speed the process.” Hunk turned toward the door as if expecting Matt to appear. “He could cut the time down considerably.” 

Keith informed him without hesitation or worry. “If he is feeling up to it, once he is cleared from the doctor.” 

Pidge’s stomach rolled as she worried about her brother. “Why is Matt with a doctor?” When no one wanted to answer she tried to think back to the last time she saw him. “Is he okay? Did something happen to him?” From her angle, Matt had no real injuries she could remember.

Lance chuckled. “Yeah, first he pissed off his sister and she put a Bayard to his throat. Then, he blocked her escape from Med Bay, so she punched him in the face.” 

Offended at the statement she could harm him, Pidge responded to Lance. “I didn’t hit him. I couldn’t have.”

Lance squatted by Pidge. “I can fill you in on the missing pieces later. Not here and not now. First, we need to get cleaned up and find something to eat. Preferably in private.” He ground his teeth in frustration, then focused on Keith. “Let me know where you want us to crash.” Standing, he held out his hand to Pidge.

The weight of the situation hit her in the chest. If they had to spend the next three days together, that included when she had to sleep. She stood without assistance and smoothed down the front of her shirt. She stared at the floor, unable to make eye contact. 

Lance remembered Pidge’s statement from before the team arrived. “Keith, you should know Pidge saw Zethrid. We should tell the others.” 

Keith’s voice caused her to look over. “Pidge?” Then, he smiled sincerely and squeezed her shoulder. “Allura and I will speak with the Commanders about the situation.” He watched a flurry of emotion dance in her eyes. “I will let James tell his team and we can talk later as a group.”

Pidge shook her head no. “I want to tell them. It is about me. Also, I want to see the site.”

Keith lowered his voice. “Let us speak with the Commanders, at this time we do not have to go into details. As for the MFEs, that is up to you.” He moved from her to back to the door.

When the hanger door opened, James and his team stood on the other side. James stepped forward straight to the Black Paladin. “Keith, they are ready for you.”

“James, you remember our conversation about Zethrid and Ezor?” When James nodded, Keith continued. “First, Pidge saw Zethrid today. Second, tonight at dinner, Pidge needs to give the team more details.”

James nodded in understanding and turned to Veronica. “Paladins of Voltron have the full weight and support of the MFEs. You wanted to be more involved, are you ready?” When she nodded yes, James nodded to Keith. “Veronica, and I will escort Lance and Pidge. We will run interference with those around the base.”

Uneasy about leaving Green, Pidge’s eyes transfixed on the lions. It was not until Lance bumped her arm that she turned to him. “I’m sorry that we are stuck…”

Frowning at her, Lance snapped a reply. “Don’t finish that sentence. Let’s go.” For effect, he walked toward the door and stood next to Veronica and James.

She moved with the group to the door and then into the corridor. Her mind replayed the conversation with team this morning. ‘The original plan had Allura, Lance and Veronica at that location. However, James and I went for Allura and Lance. It is less likely that Veronica or James were the targets.’

Matt yelled as he approached the group. “Katie?” Hunk followed next to Matt as they walked up to Pidge. “Are you feeling okay?” When she nodded yes, Matt continued. “Per my conversation with Hunk, you had a reaction to something at the blast site. Now, you have to wear an Altean bracelet to keep you in check for a little while.” His playful banter put a smile on his sister’s face. “You’re not going to attack me again?”

She chuckled quietly to her brother as a way to smooth things over. “Don’t worry Matt, your safe… for now.” 

His shoulders relaxed as he watched his sister’s playfulness return. “Hunk wanted my help with some analysis, but when I get back we can have dinner and maybe watch a movie?”

Her eyes flicked to Lance and back to Matt. “We can talk over dinner, but I need to stay here for a few days, just as a precaution. A group of us will be at dinner and we can talk then okay?”

After a short pause, Matt would ask more questions later. “Sure.” Matt eyes roam over to Lance and lit up like a firework. “Hey Lance, thanks for helping my sister today. It is great knowing she has the Paladins watching her back.” He held out his hand for Lance to shake it and Lance obliged. 

The smile on Lance’s face reflected in his eyes. “Anything for a Holt. She has kept me out of danger a time or two, I figured to return the favor.”

Matt chuckled more to himself than to Lance. “Yeah, probably got you in trouble too. But we are good at pulling others back out.” The older Holt smirked with mischief as the two guys joked. “Heard about your aim, glad you’re on our side.” Matt watched shock spread over Lance. “Seriously, I’m happy you were there this morning. If you ever need anything, let me know.” 

However, Matt’s good humor quickly died when he addressed the other two. “James, Veronica do keep out of trouble, or at least, do not involve my sister and her friends. Wouldn’t want someone to get hurt.” He spun around and headed toward Hunk. “Bye Lance, Bye Katie.”

Lance stared at James as he spoke. “Wow, that was painful to watch. What did you do to piss off a Holt?” 

Veronica shrugged her shoulders confused, but James frowned. He covered his bitterness, but it was still there. “Let’s say it was a difference of opinion and leave it alone. Eventually, he will get over it.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “My experience, the Holt family has a long memory and if they feel responsible for what happened, they won’t stop until things are made right. They expect the same from others.”

Veronica cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “We should get the two of you to decontamination. We need to make sure you don’t have any leftover particles on your clothes.” The older McClain saw the worry flash over Pidge’s eyes and stepped closer. “Matt is fine, Lance can’t transfer the particles to him by shaking his hand. This is more for your safety Pidge.”

When she nodded, they started moving again. It did not take long for the four of them to reach their destination. 

Veronica said something to Lance, but Pidge’s mind was somewhere else. Then, the two Paladins entered the small room and stood in the center. 

Lance pushed buttons on a console and the room filled began the spray process. In an instant, they found themselves covered from head to toe with purple foam. As the foam fell from their faces, Lance spoke. “I miss the decontamination process from the Castle. It was much better than this.” He smiled at the memory. “Remember the first time we used it?”

Smiling, she heard the next sprayers kick on and felt a steady stream of water hit her back. After a minute, water started filling up the room. “We were outside the ship trying to help Allura and Coran bring the ship online before we met Ryner.” The water rose slowly to over her ankles, but she focused on her memory. “Hunk could not fix it, so you gave it a shot.” When she looked over, he had a smile on his face. “So, I fixed it.”

“You made it look easy, as always.” 

The water was to her waist, but she continued. “I’m sorry for being rude to you. You were only trying to get me to see there is more to life than a piece of machine.” She felt his confusion and saw it on his face. 

“When were you rude?”

“When I admired the technology and talked about how it was beautiful.” Since he still held a look of confusion, she elaborated. “You said, it’s not a sunset Pidge.” The water was at the center of her chest and still raising. “I said, you’re right. A billion sunsets just happen every day.” 

As the water crept to her neck, she looked at Lance. His facial expression held a guarded look, but she figured his feeling were hurt and didn’t want to admit it aloud. “Look, I’m sorry. Okay? I didn’t realize at the time that I hurt your feelings. I didn’t understand what you meant. A billion sunsets happen every day, but we don’t get to enjoy them. We are lucky to enjoy just a few, right?” She closed her eyes and mouth as the water covered her face. 

She held her breath, but she felt a wave of an emotion hit. An unrecognizable emotion came from Lance and she wished to comfort him. The water drained quickly, and the two Paladins waited for the driers to kick on. She sent him a weak smile and whispered. “Are you still mad?”

Lance shook his head no almost to shake off confusion. “All this time you said nothing. I thought… we... I never…”

“I’m sorry.”

A smile graced his lips as he stared at her. “Promise me something. A real promise that you can’t break, no matter how painful it will be from time to time.”

Tentatively, she whispered. “What?”

“Do not agree until you truly consider it.” He watched as she nodded yes. “From this moment on, can we agree to be truthful with each other? If you don’t want to tell me or you maybe you are not conscious of why, just say pass. Got it.”

The dryer kicked in and they could not hear each other, so neither spoke. Both of them, held on as the fans kicked to full. His face held an intense emotion as he waited for an answer. She felt lost as she wondered why he wanted such a promise. He was one of her best friends and she tells him more than she would tell her parents, maybe even Matt. 

As the dryers stopped and the system gave them the all clear, she frowned. “I don’t understand, why do I need to promise to…”

Lance sighed and matched her frown. “Let’s say… you.. you came up with a plan to go after Zethrid.” He gave her a moment to be shocked and let his words have an impacted. “I see you working on something and I ask what you are working on. I want you to be honest with me. Or another example, if I asked you what you were hiding at the Garrison, I would want you to tell me about your family and that you are a girl. If you want to keep it to yourself or maybe you have not fully understood what you are thinking or feeling, then just admit this is a pass situation. Got it.”

Worry crossed her face before she spoke. “I’m not planning anything or…”

He sighed again, but this time he smiled. “It was an example Pidge. Nothing more. Just think about what I am asking of you and if you can agree to the terms.”

“Would the reverse be true? Like if I asked you why this sudden interest in my secrets.”

He smiled at her and motioned for them to exit the room. “Yes, the opposite is true. Right now, I would say pass. I am still processing my thoughts. When I understand them more, we can talk about it okay?” 

As they exited the room, Lance realized they were missing James and Veronica. “Veronica said to wait here.” He stood up straight and thought about their conversation. “I can say this with all honesty. I am not mad about the sunset comment, just a little shocked. Do you think of that moment often?”

“On and off since it happened. Well, more now since… Well since what happened… happened after we destroyed the Castle.” Glancing around, Pidge wondered how long they would wait. “From now on, I promise I will answer as honestly as I can. I’m sorry I was always holding back.”

Lance’s voice softened as he moved closer. “Please stop apologizing. We have our agreement, we just need to do our best to keep our promise. So, no apologies. I’m tired of waiting for Veronica. Let’s go get food.” 

As they walked to the cafeteria, Pidge wondered about the device on her wrist. “What happened after I passed out? Will this stop it from happening again?”

Lance playfully bumped her as he lowered his voice. “Well, while we were coming to the Garrison, Allura asked me how I knew what to do. I don’t know if you remember, but I asked you to tell Green to let go. Once you did, everything seemed to get back to normal. Hunk met us at the infirmary and we discussed the quintessence changes in Green. I told him to check Red’s levels and he found Green received what was needed from Red. We told Allura and Keith. You were stable and I left the room for less than a minute. I asked Allura if we could modify the headband device to redirect the quintessence. She said the bracelets would work better. Hunk tried it on me first. However, as soon as he did, you bolted.” 

Once they arrived at their destination, Pidge stopped. “Thank you for looking out for me.”

His blue eyes scanned the empty room as he stepped inside. “According to Allura, it is not a permanent, but while connected with these devices we can borrow quintessence. During recovery, you could pass out if levels get to low. Hence the reason I am here.” He picked up two sandwiches and chips. Then, he moved to the drink section, but stopped because of the look on her face.

Concern etched her face and she fidgeted with her hands. “Did you volunteer for this connection?” 

Shaking his head, he moved on to the desserts. “Sort of.” When she frowned, he continued. “Look, Red protected Green. No one asked, but I felt responsible and uniquely qualified to help. Plus, I never gave anyone the impression they could volunteer.” Smirking as he grabbed three desserts, Lance moved from the food area to the table they used yesterday. “I think the others wanted to help, but I put on the bracelet before they had a chance to discuss the possibilities. So, it depends on how you see it.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, we have the room to ourselves. Let’s eat.”


	6. Afternoon of change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After lunch Lance and Pidge have to spend time together.  
> Maybe this will be a good thing. Maybe Pidge can work on what happened.  
> Or will Lance be a distraction?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone's kudos. This has been a fun story to write.  
> Don't worry more to come.

She would never admit it aloud, but Pidge was tired of staring at a computer. Lance pacing in front of the lions and his emotional state contributed to her building headache. Her emotions were understandable given the last 24 hours. However, his emotions seemed random and would jump from one state to another.

On the two monitors in front of her, the video showed the explosion slightly different than she remembered. She left the original copy of the video displayed on monitor one. The second monitor held her edited version which was how she remembered the events. Next, she cut off the audio and re-spliced the sections she wanted. She watched the edited version and found a patterned she had missed. She pulled up files and data from the server and overlaid it on the sections. “Can you please stop pacing?”

“Can you please stop exhaling so loud?”

Without meaning too she exhaled. “Look. Please come here and look.” He moved closer, so she continued. “I reviewed the original video from what happened, and it is displayed on the left. The screen to the right is my edited version. The sound was turned off the original and I replaced it with what I heard and how I heard it. Meaning, it does not sound like I am yelling at people.”

With a flick of her hand the video started with Oliv on the ground behind Pidge and the unknown Galran yelling a threat. As the grenade rolled to Pidge’s feet, it was clear the young Paladin held up her shield and threw her body on Oliv. As soon as the blast went off the footages paused. “If you notice the little gray speckles from the blast in the air, that is a form of highly reformed quintessence that is genetically engineered to break down pure quintessence. If you notice the charts, a large spike dropped my levels so low they were in the danger zone. Everyone else’s was fine. Well, until…” 

The video resumed, and no one moved. The graph indicated Pidge’s levels were still dropping until the gray speckles changed to greenish dust and the Green Paladin sat up. “Notice my levels went up. It is because Green’s went down. She gave me quintessence. If you had asked me while this was happening, I thought Green was there sitting behind James and Veronica.” Her eyes wondered over Lance. “It was a perfect circle until I started moving. By my calculations, the energy followed me from Oliv to Veronica.”

“Why does this bother you so much? We know what happened to you.”

Glancing at the screen, Pidge paused it again. She had a hard time making eye contact, so she focused on Lance. “That was Zethrid.” She watched as he tensed. “She was badly burned on one side of her body and she was beyond mad. Question is, why didn’t she approach us when we were obviously compromised?”

Lance had a surge of anger pass over him and he hoped Pidge would ignore his feelings. “I know what you’re thinking.” When she raised her eyebrow as a challenge, he countered. “Her plan failed, because they hit the wrong target. Question is, who was their target?”

Pidge resumed the footage to keep them focused. 

However, Lance wouldn’t let it go. “Do you think they meant to hit that location?” Since she kept quiet, he pushed her. “We agreed to honesty. What are you thinking?”

She exhaled loudly on purpose. “Fine. Better question, why were they disappointed? Did they have someone feed them information from inside the Garrison? Since you changed several of the team member’s location, you caused their failure.”

He started pacing again as he spoke. “That is assuming, they only had one target.” Another round of anger rolled off Lance. “What if they wanted one or two of us get the first round, then we have more rush in to save them? Maybe that is why she waited. She wanted more to fall into the trap before they had the big finally.”

Out of habit, her fingers tapped the keys. She wasn’t typing, just a nervous tick. “Okay, with that thinking, Allura and you would have been first to getting hit. Then, Keith and I would have come to help since we were closest. Leaving Hunk to arrive last.” She felt a new emotion from him, but she was unable to decipher the meaning. “If it were me, I would have sprung the trap once Keith arrived. I wouldn’t wait for Hunk. Keith fought them before and caused them to suffer.”

Lance stepped closer to her and another strange emotion came off him. “We need to figure out how the Commanders originally decided where to put everyone and who knew the plan. Did they not know of the update? I bet the three of them never discussed the changes, because everything happened so fast.”

She felt a sadness creep over him and she sighed. When his eyebrows went up as a question, she made eye contact. “What are you feeling right now?”

Without a word, he walked over, pulled up a chair and sat eye level with Pidge. His eyes softened as he looked upon her. When he spoke, he kept his voice low and sweet. “Honestly. I am not sure I am ready to talk about all of what I am feeling.” His eyes searched hers. “I was confused, the first time we heard your voice over the radio after the blast, you said no one was fully conscious, but the area was secure. You sounded strange and all of us tried to talk to you.”

A tear escaped down her cheek as she felt his agony. “The video sounded strange to me. That is not how I sounded in my head.”

Lance removed the tear causing Pidge to jerk back slightly. “Once I arrived and tried to approach you, I understood what you meant. You were not fully conscious of your actions. But Green had secured the area. Each of us called out to you, but you only answered me. Then, Red showed me what happened. The image and feelings you shared with Red, that is how I knew what had happened. Red believed Green would die to save you. It was the least they could do for us.”

“Is that why you are angry too?”

A frown covered his lips before he spoke. “Someone tried to kill you and it makes me angry.”

Pidge tilted her head slightly as she rotated her bracelet. “What is the other emotion you feel? It’s hard for me to read or understand where it is coming from, yet familiar and strong.”

His frown faded as he scooted closer. “Are you ready for complete honesty?” He waited for her response. Lance felt her curiosity grow, which made him smile. When she nodded yes, he lowered his voice. “Do you remember when we were in decon and you reminded me about the sunset conversation?”

Pidge felt her face get hot as her cheeks burned red. Willing herself to stay calm, she nodded yes again.

His piercing blue eyes bore into hers as he leaned forward. “Do you remember our conversation about the device Allura and I used? What I said I heard?”

Instinctually, Pidge reach up to adjust glasses that she didn’t wear. “Yeah, someone’s voice?” She swallowed hard when he licked his lips.

In a flash, Lance leaned in past her face to whispered in her ear. “I couldn’t place where I heard it, but you reminded me of something today.” Purposely breathing harder on her neck, Lance felt her breath hitch as he spoke one word. “Sunset.” He pulled back slightly to watch her eyes widened. “If memory serves, we played a few rounds of Killbot Phantasm, I kept falling asleep and you convinced me to go to bed. As I was leaving the room, you whispered something.”

She swallowed hard as she turned slightly to see him better. Her face felt like it was on fire as the word barely left her mouth. “Sunset.”

Lance took a deep breath and kept his eyes locked on hers. “Ever since I found out about Allura, I have racked my brain thinking about who would whisper such a word. You’ve been holding out on me.” 

She leaned back for a little space, only to have Lance follow her. “Lance?”

“Yes?”

His eyes darted to her lips, Pidge squirmed in her seat. “I… We… I…” Her bottom lip went between her teeth.

Locking his gaze with hers, Lance moved in a little before letting his breath linger on her lips. “For over a month, I was torn. I wanted you, but I didn’t think it would be fair if it turned out I would end up with someone else.” He licked his lips as her cheeks turned a nice shade of crimson. “You are my best friend and I would never do something to hurt you. Actually, I am a little surprised you never said anything. The Green Paladin is daring, right?”

“Lance, you don’t want me. This is the bracelet talking. We are best friends, but that is all we are.” Pidge fidgeted with the bracelet as she tracked his eyes from her eyes, cheek, lips and back to her eyes.

His arms were on either side of her almost pinning her to the chair. “Why won’t you kiss me? I know you want to? Are you afraid you will like it?” For a moment, she shook her head yes, which caused Lance to smirk. “Where is the daring Paladin? She would kiss me.”

Surprising both of them as she leaned forward and briefly let their lips touch. Pulling back, she stared at him. “See, I’m daring.”

His right hand caressed her cheek before he leaned in and kissed her. Slowly pressing his lips to hers, he leaned in to keep her from pulling back. He teased her as moved by moving his lips down. Her right hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. Opening his lips. he deepened the kiss farther. His hand slid to the back of her neck and he held her their as he slid his tongue in her mouth. He broke the kiss to speak, but she stopped him.

As his free hand slid behind her back, Pidge felt herself give in to this moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. Running her fingers through his hair, his arms around her body, she kept them as close as she could as she slid her tongue in his mouth. 

After a moment, he pulled away and looked at her. “There is the Pidge I know. Not afraid to take what belongs to her.” 

For the first time today, she saw the pink twinge to his cheeks and his rapid breathing. “Hope you know that means the flirting with other girls is over.” His eyes and lips held a flirtatious quality she hoped he would direct toward her. 

“Are you jealous?” His eyes widened from the realization that he only touched the surface of the inner workings of Pidge. “Probably the smartest being in the universe, who is not only sarcastic and fun, but also beautiful, is jealous. Tell me that’s not true Katie?”

Leaning in and pretending to whisper in his ear, Pidge playfully licked his neck. Her reward was a chuckle and then he tried to squirm away. “McClain’s are ticklish. Don’t make me…”

Pulling her close, he ended her speech by kissing her again. This time, he took control slowly as he kissed her. He switched tactics by sucked slightly on her bottom lip. he let his tongue dance with hers as he pulled her closer. 

She pulled back slightly and sucked on his lip as one of her hands touched the skin behind his shirt collar. Slowly she ran her fingers over his skin as the other hand played with his hair. His hand touched her skin at her hip so Pidge pulls him close and kisses him gently. 

Neither heard the door open nor someone walk in. 

However, they both heard the gasp and pulled apart quickly. Both Paladins stared at Veronica as her eyes darted back and forth. For thirty seconds the room was completely silent. Lance’s shoulders relaxed as he put a little more space between him and Pidge. “Hey Veronica. Everything okay?”

Her voice held a regal yet playful tone. “We came to find out how you are doing.” As she spoke, Sam walked in causing Veronica to blush slightly. 

Sam made a bee line for his daughter. “Katie are you alright?” Scanning his daughter’s face, he frowned at her red cheeks. “Are you coming down with a fever?” He reached up and checked her temperature with his forearm. “Well, you don’t feel feverish.” Turning to Lance, Sam questioned. “How has she been behaving?’

Lance’s blush had disappeared, and he seemed back to his old self. He made direct eye contact with Sam as he spoke. “This morning she was her normal secretive self. You know how private and guarded her behavior can seem.” When Sam nodded yes, Lance continued. “However, since we had to spend time together she has turned rather… what’s the word?” He tapped his index finger to his lips and he eyes took on a mischievous appearance. “Friendly. Your daughter behavior can best be described as friendly. Not to everyone, but she has warmed up to me.”

Sam’s tone held relief as he said, “that is good to hear”. 

Meanwhile, Veronica huffed at her brother’s humor as Pidge sent him a murderous glare. 

Sam missed Pidge’s eyeroll as he continued. “It warms my heart to know she has people like you.”

“Well, Sir, I like your daughter very much and…”

Pidge interrupted as Lance spoke. “Dad, why did you stop by?” Her eyes held a murderous glare, but her voice held a soft tone.

Sam put his hand on her shoulder with a large smile on his face. “Keith said, you reacted to something at the explosion site, but the team had everything under control.” His warm eyes softened as he beamed at Lance. “Keith said you figured out what was wrong and helped come up with a solution. Thank you for looking out for my daughter.”

Lance blushed slightly at the compliment as if he never expected such nice comments from Sam. “No problem sir. We were just going to dinner, but we can stop by later if…”

Sam waved off the excuses. “Perfect timing. Colleen brought back food from that little Italian place Katie loves so much. We have plenty of food, want to join us.” Sam held a look of desperation as he tried to convince his daughter. Pidge clearly looked ready to run, but he held hope Lance would help him. “We have garlic knots.”

Pidge prepared to let her dad down easy, but the look on Lance’s face stopped her. They could survive one meal with her parents. “Sure dad.” The surprise on both of their faces made her chuckle. “What? It’s not a sunset.” For a moment, she thought her clever joke would make him smile. 

Instead, Lance’s face held no emotion as he agreed. “Yeah, sounds like fun.”

Sam smiled at Veronica. “Please join us as well. Oh and let James and his team know they should come too.” Veronica nodded and left, but Sam never saw her eye roll to Lance. Sam held out his hand to his daughter and he missed her fake smile. 

As she grabbed her dad’s arm, she dared a glance at Lance. His eyes held the same faraway look hers held a few moments ago. Wondering if he had doubts, she tried to shake it out of her mind as her dad led the way to dinner. Part of her wished Veronica was with them as a buffer.

It was a short trip to the conference room outside Sam’s office. Allura and Keith stood by Colleen as she unwrapped some food. 

Sam beamed as he approached his wife. “Colleen, look who I found.”

Her eyes lit up as she left the food to go hug her daughter. “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Her eyes held a warm loving glow as she inspected her daughter’s face. “Hunk and Matt should be here soon, they found a sample of one of the terrorists and needed to discuss with Sam. Hunk was not happy, but I think he is just nervous.” Colleen brushed a strand of hair from her daughter’s face before heading back to her work with the food.

Sam dropped Pidge’s arm and approached Allura, Shiro, Iverson, and Keith who were seated around the very large table. They kept their conversation in hushed tones, but Keith nodded to their arrival. 

Nadia, Ina and Matt entered quietly and found their way to Keith. Matt broke off and moved closer to Pidge and Lance. 

Next, the doors opened for Hunk and Ryan to enter. Hunk’s voice carried around the room as he described the best ingredients to make cake in space. Pidge’s mom handed Hunk a plate, so he began filling it with food. 

When Matt sat down, Pidge sat with Matt on her left and Lance on her right. Her mom sat down food in front of her, but it sat untouched as her mind wondered. It did not take a genius to tell that Lance was mad at her for cutting him off in front of her dad. Part of her wanted to talk to him privately before he told her dad. Another part of her was mad for the interruption. She missed Keith say her name as the room became silent causing Matt to bump her. “What?”

Keith cleared his throat before he continued. “We are grateful for the information provided by the Coalition. Again, we believe they are not responsible for what happened to Pidge.”

Glancing around the room, Pidge realized several of the Coalition, the base commanders, several people she didn’t know, the Paladins, MFE pilot and some family. She noticed the boy named Daniel stood near an older Commander, his father maybe. Her voice sounded sincere. “I do not hold the Coalition responsible for what Zethrid and her team did.”

A green skinned plant like alien spoke. “First, you assume she is alive. Second, you assume Zethrid was behind the attack.”

Pidge tiled her head in confusion as her mind tried to follow the logic behind the statements. She kept emotion out of her voice as she spoke. “I understand the probability of them surviving the explosion. However, I saw Zethrid.” Mumbling broke out among the Coalition members which made Pidge doubt they believed her. 

Shiro came to her defense by standing up and holding out his hands in a calming gesture. “We all came here to discuss the path forward. We have evidence that Zethrid was at the scene. Members of the coalition, we understand your apprehension to get involved. The Garrison slash Altas crew, will support the Paladins in the search and capture of Zethrid and anyone conspiring with her.”

The alien stood up at nodded at Shiro for the floor. “For all we know she is innocent in any wrongdoings. She was present, yes. But does that make your guilty?” When Pidge mumbled something and shifted irritably in her chair, the delegate turned to her. “Do you have something to add?”

Again, Shiro responded with a calm, yet authoritative tone. “Please try to understand. We had dealings with Zethrid and Ezor in the past. They will not want to listen to reason, they are after power. They will stop at nothing to get what they want.” Shiro sat and the delegate sat as well. 

Several of the members of the Coalition exchanged questioning looks causing Ryner to speak. “Shiro, we have known each other for some time. We will aid you. However, we must insist that the criminals are brought to justice fairly.”

Shifting in her chair as a sneer appeared on her face, Pidge felt sick to her stomach. She saw the question on Matt’s face as Lance leaned in to whisper to her. “And that is the difference between us and them.” Before anyone could stop her, she stood up. “They are… not above kidnapping the Paladins of Voltron, locking them in a cell, and demanding answers.” Her tone increased as she spoke, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Keith stand up. However, she couldn’t stop herself. “When they don’t get the answers they want, they will result to torture. They will pick the one which will cause the most damage. They will pick the think will weaken us the most.” She felt movement behind her, but she didn’t care. “They will do it for their own pleasure. I mean, they didn’t care that I was sixteen and next time they pick one of you don’t come crying to me.” It was the gasp that made her head snap to the source. Her face fell when she realized it was her mom. 

Lance gently grabbed her elbow and pulled her away from the table. His voice come out apologetic, but his face held no emotion. “Thank you for inviting us to dinner. However, I am afraid that Pidge and I must leave.” When Matt reached for his sister, Lance shifted Pidge behind him. He slid his hand into hers and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry, but it has been a long day with a near death experience and some of us are not thinking clearly. Maybe, we can try to meet again tomorrow night for dinner.”

Pidge took a step back and gave Lance more room. She kept her eyes on the floor to prevent herself from seeing the look on her mom’s face. She could only image the look on everyone else’s expression. A look of horror and fear burned into her mind. Again, she said words that she meant, but regret the way the words sounded. “I’m sorry.” Lance tried to tighten his grip, but she pulled free. His eyes caught hers as she mumbled another apology. However, she turned and bolted. 

“Wait!” Lance’s voice called out before the doors shut. 

She stopped when she made it to the hallway. Before she knew it, Lance grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him. “Where are we going?”

He never answered as he walked quickly down the hall and she had to jog to keep up. When they reached the stairs, she knew their destination. They remain quiet as he opened the roof access and pushed her in front. Closing the door behind him, she stared straight ahead. She sat down in the same spot their lives changed. 

“In my personal opinion, you should leave the diplomat stuff to Allura, Keith and Shiro.”

Pidge dropped her face in her hands and took a deep breath. “That was a disaster.”

“Bright side, we may never be invited back.” Cautiously, Lance sat next to her facing the setting sun. “And we get a great view.” 

Pulling her head up and placing her hands in her lap, she took a deep breath. “What are we? Are we friends with benefits?”

Lance coughed in his hand to clear his throat. “I don’t want to share you. I want us to be together, as in a couple. What do you want?”

“Lance, why now?” 

He chuckled slightly, then stopped when she glared at him. “You are all over it tonight. Okay. The truth is, I realized what I feel for you. Zethrid and Ezor made me realize that I almost lost you. I don’t see you as a little sister or even just a friend. I want us to be more. The question is, why did you stop me from telling your dad?”

“I don’t want to share you or explain our relationship. Hell, right now, I am a walking time bomb. I would at least like to wait until this bracelet comes off, before saying anything.”

Lance shook his head in understanding. “Only problem…” Her eyes crinkled in confusion, so Lance continued. “Several already suspect we are in a relationship.”

“Veronica.” 

“She didn’t tell anyone if that is what you are thinking. She hasn’t had time.” Lance leaned back on his arms giving her a little space. “Keith, James, Allura, Ryan and Hunk all exchanged these looks recently as if they are taking bets on when something will happen between us. I just didn’t know it was today, until today.” 

“Why would they think that something would happen? I am very careful.”

Lance laughed again and smiled at her. “I touch your stuff all the time, headphones, devices, like the Altean phone, your projects in the lab…”

Snapping at him, Pidge frowned. “Okay I get it.”

“I invade your personal space, we sit next to each other, we blush at each other, we spend our free time together…”

Pidge held up her hand and he stopped talking. “You blush?”

As if on cue, his cheeks tinted pink. “I’ve even dream about you.”

“Wait what?”

Hunk opened the door and he stuttered. “Oh… here, here you are?”

Lance stood and offered his hand to Pidge. “Yes, Hunk. Here we are. We were talking about the first time the three of us were here.”

He nodded, then spoke into his radio. “I found them, I will bring them to you.” He turned his attention to them. “Keith wanted to talk to you.”


	7. Bedtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the day winds down, Pidge wants to forget dinner and get some sleep. But will she get more than she realized?

After the non-talking to talking to, Pidge settled down in the room where Keith left them. It was a bedroom double the size of the Paladins quarters back on the Castle. Two beds sat along the wall farthest from the door. They had been pushed together to make a large bed. Thankfully, it had a private bathroom and someone had filled it with Lance’s soaps.

Hunk brought some of Lance’s clothes, so the Red Paladin got to shower first. After Hunk left, Pidge wondered around the room inspecting the content. 

First, she inspected the desk. She found a small stack of blank paper, a sketch book and colored pencils in the top drawer. In the next drawer, she found a couple of books. The last drawer held an MP3 player and her old headphones. Scanning the room, Pidge realized someone setup this room with Lance in mind. Orderly and clear of clutter, she felt a sense of peace to the layout.

Next, she looked under the far bed and found a pull-out drawer with some clothes about Lance’s size. Several were personal items as for everyday wear and one Garrison uniform. In the next drawer over, she found a new uniform. The clothes were like the Garrison uniform only it had blue instead of orange. When she lifted the shirt, she found more than one uniform in the drawer. Someone had design clothes specifically with the Paladins in mind. Setting the clothes back, she stood and moved to the bed.

The sheets on one bed were similar to the sheets from Lance’s room in the Castle. The bed closest to the shower had sheets from Pidge’s old room in the Castle. 

“Knock, knock?” Matt walked in like he owned the place. “Hey sis, we wanted to say good night.” He placed some clothes on the edge of the desk and set her backpack on the floor.

Next, Pidge’s parents entered triggering Pidge to swallow hard. They both held the same nervous expression she was sure was all over her own face. Her mind raced with probabilities of why they came to see her. She assumed this conversation would not go well and she mental prepared to argue.

Her mom hugged her before Pidge could speak. “I love you sweetheart. If you need anything, just call.” Collen pulled back and had them face to face. “I am proud of the strong, independent, intelligent young woman in front of me. Never be afraid to talk to me.” Collen kissed her on the forehead and gave her another hug which lasted longer than the first.

Pidge whispered as her mom released her as she relaxed. “I love you mom.” Her mom kissed her cheek and Pidge saw the warmth she had missed since she was little.

Sam stepped closer and hugged her. “Katie, I am so proud of you.” His warm shirt and fast racing heart held her. “Remember to keep your friends close. They are your family too.” He kissed her head and gently squeezed before letting her go. His smile went straight through her as his eyes reflected his love for his daughter.

“I love you dad.” Her mom ran her hand down Pidge’s face and the Paladin smiled. This is what she had missed for the last few years. Her mind clicked over to a question she had wanted to ask, but never had the nerve. “I know this is weird and probably bad timing, but... Can I have two hundred dollars?”

Her mom seemed confused but nodded yes. “Of course, but why?”

Blushing she studied their faces and missed the opening of the bathroom door. “Okay, so I borrowed twenty dollars from Veronica to pay for my driving permit. I need twenty dollars to pay for the GED test to get my high school diploma. I need fifty-five for the ACT test for entrance into college. I need fifty to apply to the University. I need another fifty-five to pay for the GRE subject test. I already wrote my PhD thesis, I just need a way to help the Department Chair force the panel to review it. I can take all the test over the next two weeks. Per my conversation with the president of the University and depending on my scores, I could have an honorary doctorate by the end of spring semester.” 

Lance broke the silence as he lounged on the far bed in his blue pajamas. “Pidge, you should have asked for two fifty. This way, you have fifty to celebrate and I don’t think your parents would have cared.”

Collen smiled at Lance for a moment in a way Pidge had not seen before turning to Pidge. “I agree with Lance, I would have asked for more.” She winked at Sam as she continued. “Dr. Holt or Paladin Holt? Or Dr. Paladin Holt? Or Paladin Dr. Holt? Yeah, I like Dr. Paladin Holt better.” Collen kissed Pidge’s cheek and whispered. “Is tomorrow okay for your money?”

“Yes.”

Collen smile was brighter than ever as she made her way to the door. “Good night Katie.” As she stepped into the hallway she called back. “Good night Lance.” 

“Great Pidge, there will be no living with mom now.” Matt stated as he ruffled Pidge’s hair. “I always knew you would surpass my achievements, I thought I had more time. Oh, and personally, I like Paladin Dr. Holt better.” He continued to mumble as he left. “Good night Katie, night Lance.”

Sam gave her a bear hug and slowly let go. “Maybe they could call you Dr. Paladin Holt on Earth and Paladin Dr. Holt while in space.” He kissed her head and turned to Lance. For a moment, he appeared to be deep in thought. Then, he turned back to Pidge. “Katie, please have some fun tomorrow, you deserve a break and let us know if you need anything else.”

She had a hard time holding back a blush as she thought about this afternoon. “Yes dad. I promise to have some fun.” He turned to the side to block Lance’s view and then she saw him winked at her. 

“Good night Katie, good night Lance.” Sam left without looking back.

The room was so quiet when Lance spoke Pidge jumped. “You made them really happy. So happy, I bet you get more than two fifty.” Her eyes widened as Lance transferred to the bed near her. “They came here tonight to see if you would let them comfort you. They have missed you and they just want to be part of your life. It is a part of growing up that fine line them giving you space and you letting them have a part of your life.” 

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

Lance leaned back on the bed. “While I was in the hospital, my mom and I had some time to talk. We talked about my choices and my life as a Paladin. She is proud of me and asked to be included in my life.” When he caught her staring at him, he noticed her blush. “My mom wants to be a part of my life, not to make decisions, just to be invited to the party.”

“She loves you.”

He nodded and continued. “Just like your parents and brother. They may never tell you want it meant for you to find Sam and Matt, but it meant even more to come home. They want to know they are needed and that you can count on them just as much as they found they can count on you. I promised my mom I would let her be an important part of my life.” He watched her pick up her clothes and examine them. “Go take your shower, we have all night.”

As she headed to the bathroom, she whispered to herself. “That’s what scares me.” His laughter filled the room as she closed the bathroom door. 

The small room was warm and smelled of Lance setting Pidge’s mind at ease. She set her stuff down and turned on the water. Stepping out of her clothes, she remembered her thoughts while in the Castle where she focused on her family. However, since returning to Earth, her mind wondered to other projects and strategies for protecting Earth. 

As she stepped into the shower, she let the water cover her head. Leaning back into the stream of water, she thought of Lance’s comments about missing the rain. The sad look on his face as he missed his home and family. She smiled at the realization that he smiles more since they arrived, even with his problems with Allura. 

Clearing her mind, she focused on her shower. The scents of Lance’s shampoo and body wash filled the room quickly and she released some of the frustration. She imaged her worry and frustration as mixing with the soap and rolling off her and into the drain. 

Green sent an image of Pidge hugging Matt and Dad in the Castle, before her dad returned to Earth. She felt peaceful as she reached for her towel.

A couple of times she heard Lance talking in the other room, but it was muffled. She tried not to focus on his voice, but to finish her shower instead. As his voice increased and felt a strange emotion flow from him to her. 

Hurrying along, Pidge stepped out of her shower, dried off and slipped on the light green pajamas. Quietly, she opened the door and found Veronica, and James talking with Lance. She made her way to the nearest bed and sat down.

James spotted her right away, but never said a word. His eyes trailing back to Veronica and Lance. He appeared tired, but like Keith he would never admit it aloud.

The McClain siblings, Veronica and Lance, stood a couple of feet away from Lance’s bed and it was clear they were not happy with each other. Veronica took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. “Lance, I love you and I want you to be happy, but things are tense right now with what happened at dinner.” 

His tone held anger as he straightened his body. “Veronica, she is fine.” When Veronica rolled her eyes, Lance snapped. “Yes, today went poorly, but she will not be back to herself for a few days.”

“Seriously, I don’t blame her for snapping at those snotty Coalition people, I wanted to myself. It is only that the visiting Commander will take it out on Sam.” She clearly wanted to pace back and forth, but the room was too small to accommodate her request. “It is clear the Commander is not happy here and he wants to send his son away. He is looking for any excuse to blame the Paladins return to Earth will be the end of planet. All of you need to be careful and not give him an excuse to rally people to his side.”

Lance moved in close to his sister’s face. “We can’t worry about what other people might do or what they might say.” He watched the storm rage within his sister’s eyes. “What is really bothering you?”

She shifted back slightly to get a good look at her brother’s face. “How many times have you been tortured? What are you not telling us?”

Lance snapped as anger rose through him. “Don’t.”

Pidge hated to see the siblings fighting and it started with something she said. The guilt weighted on her as wondered what she could say to ease the tension. She thought of their time in space as Paladins. She thought of Matt and then her dad. 

Everyone stared at Pidge when she spoke. “Did you ever ask Matt that question? Or my dad? What have you done to survive? They are not easy questions and it would be best if we walk about this later after we have rested. Maybe we can discuss this tomorrow. Today was not easy. I’m sorry if I upset you at dinner.” 

Lance moved closer to the bed and lowered his voice. “Veronica, do you know what happened with the lions today? Why you survived?”

James spoke up as he put himself within arm’s reach of Veronica. “No. We know it had something to do with Pidge and you.”

Pidge chuckled. “Well, the particles in the air were meant to kill the Paladins. However, Green gave me her quintessence to neutralize the particles. Green couldn’t sustain me the whole time, so the Red lion helped. Only, I am not meant to receive quintessence from Red. Red can be...” 

“Red chooses a pilot that relies more on instinct than skill alone and Red chooses only the best pilot.” Lance sat next to Pidge with a smirk on his lips.

Pidge rolls her eyes at Lance’s behavior. “While all of that is true, Red is also the most volatile and temperamental. It does not mix well with Greens characteristics. Trust me, I don’t want to be the Red Paladin.” Lance stuck his tongue out as Pidge pushed his shoulder lightly.

James chuckled and when they stared at him, he offered his thoughts. “I wouldn’t want the Red Paladin or the Green Paladin.”

Lance scanned James and countered. “Red also respects those who recognize the merits of others even above oneself. I became the Red Paladin because I admit that Keith should be the Black Paladin and I will support his leadership.” Pushing back slightly at Pidge, Lance chuckled. “For instance, I don’t want to be the Green Paladin. The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring.”

Pidge shrugged. “You could be daring if you wanted too.” Veronica’s eyebrow went up at Pidge’s comment, but Pidge ignored her. James gave her a funny look too, but Pidge didn’t mind.

“Says the girl who hacked the Garrison, broke into Iverson’s office…” Lance’s comment caused James to huff. “Ran away from home, posing as a boy, broke every school rule…”

“Please stop. I did what I had too.” Pidge’s eyes narrowed on him. “Besides, you found me on the roof, when you convinced Hunk to skip curfew. You are a rebel.”

Veronica stopped their debate as Lance leaned back and studied Pidge’s face. “Between the two of you, is there a law you haven’t broken yet?”

Pidge responds first. “Well, hacking, breaking and entering, forgery, assault, robbery…” She thought hard on what rules were left. “Underage drinking?”

Lance rubbed his chin. “No, I drank Nunvil. Cussing?”

“Does quiznak count?”

Lance thought for a second. “Yes, I think. Well, we broke curfew, what about something bigger? Murder?” 

Pidge nods no. “I killed Haxus. Arson?”

Lance thought about it a tick. “Well, we set off explosion that causes fires, does that count?” 

James held up his hands. “Well, I have been scarred for life. Come on Veronica, let’s leave them alone. Have a good night criminals.” As he reached the door, he opened it and held it open for Veronica. “We can pick up our conversations when we had a good nights rest.”

“James, please give me a second okay. I just want to talk to Lance a minute.” Veronica wanted for James to leave and the door to fully close. “I’m sorry for walking in on you two before, I should have knocked.” Veronica scanned the couple and found Pidge would not make eye contact. “I’m happy for both of you.”

Lance’s voice sounded on the edge of anger. “No one knows about us, it just happened.”

Veronica nodded. “My lips are sealed, I promise.” She watched her brother calculate her motives, but Veronica just waited. “Do you two have plans tomorrow? I need to go into town tomorrow and I figured the two of you could come with. We could eat lunch. Then, the two of you could go have fun without everyone here watching. I won’t bother you, I promise.”

“Veronica, I…” Lance started to turn her down, but he felt Pidge shift. 

“Thank you, Veronica, that sounds nice.” When both McClain’s stared at her, Pidge continued. “I need to go into the city and arrange a few projects. We can have lunch after. Then, we should come back here before anyone freaks out that we are gone. Do we want to meet up at breakfast?”

Veronica moved to the door. “Sounds great, see you tomorrow.” Then, she left before Lance could object.

After the door closed, Lance stood up and walked over to the door. He quietly and slowly opened the door and checked the hallway. When he took a deep breath and closed the door, he seemed relaxed. “Are you sure you want to hang out with Veronica?”

“Yes.”

He set the lock and walked back to Pidge. His smirk made he appear dangerous. “You do realize you are sitting on both beds? What spot should I take?” 

She blushed and moved over to the left. Pidge had a hard time speaking or making eye contact.

“Hey, Pidge?”

Her voice barely about a whisper. “Lance, when we are alone, you can call me Katie.”

Lance sat down next to her on his bed and watched her facial expression. “Please look at me.” When she made eye contact, he smiled. “Let’s agree to go slow right now. We are still new at this relationship. You wanted a relationship with me and I’m worried I won’t live up to the Lance in your head.”

She chuckled and playfully pushed him down. “I am not exactly like the Pidge in your head. I have doubts, and insecurities just like you. Green is daring, but not always fearless.” She curled up facing him on bed, but kept a little space between them. “Thank you for being their today, I’m glad you understood the milkshake reference.”

He rotated slightly to place his hand on the small of her back. “You scared me today.” Her eyes widened, so he rubbed small circles in her back. “You didn’t sound like you and you looked out of it. I realized, I didn’t want to lose you in any way. Then, we were in the decontamination unit and you told the sunset story.”

She relaxed when Lance began to blush. “You are never letting me live that down.”

“Nope.” He watched her yawn turn into her eyes closing. “Katie, can you move closer?” He applied a little pressure to her back and she shifted closer. He placed other arm out and moved her to lay her head on his chest. “Are you comfortable?”

Without looking at him, Pidge answered. “Yes.” She placed her hand on his stomach. “Can I ask you a question?” He moved his hand to touch hers, she felt a nice warm sensation from Green. “Did you mean it when you said you dream about me?” For a few moments, she wondered if he was awake.

“I admire your conviction for those you love. You have dedication and are a force of nature. Even if you don’t believe me, you are beautiful.” He felt her shift her body and found her eyes watching him. “Normally, you don’t care what others think. You say what you believe and you are not afraid to take risks.”

“Lance, technically, you didn’t answer my questions.”

His hand pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Yes. I have woken up before with thoughts of us being more than friends. In the last month or so, it has increased in frequency.” He could see her eyes calculating theories and probabilities. “Question, have you had dreams of me?”

“Pass.” His laugh did something to her so she tried to move away. However, she forgot he was fast when properly motivated. Next thing she knew, they were in a seated position with his arms pinning her to his chest. “What?”

Inhaling her scent, she felt and heard his chuckle. “Don’t lie and I will reward you with a secret.”

“Yes, I have dreamt of you. However, I am not comfortable telling you the details.”

He leaned down and stuck his nose in her hair. “Fair enough.” Loosening his grip, Lance laid back down on the bed. “Okay, so time for a secret.” He placed his arm behind his head and watched her. “You know I have doubts of my worth, but it has always made me happy when you let me borrow your stuff or touch your equipment. Recently, I had a dream where you told me you wanted to play a game, but when we were alone, you kissed me.”

“Did you like kissing me?”

His hand caressed her cheek as he followed her eye movement to his lips. “You are so much better in real life.” She was just about to lean down and kiss him when they heard a knock on the door. Neither one moved until they heard a familiar voice. 

Keith knocked again. “If either of you are up, I need to come in for a moment.”

Pidge got up, unlocked the door and opened it for Keith as Lance sat on the edge of the bed.

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Something came up with the Blade so Allura and I will go with my mom to a nearby solar system. Tomorrow, I would like the two of you to keep a low profile.”

“Pidge wanted to go into the city tomorrow and get some supplies. Maybe get a couple of things done. Veronica agreed to take us.”

Keith nodded and then responded. “Take James too. If you see anything out of the ordinary, please come back to the Atlas. We will be back tomorrow night.” He turned to leave, grabbed the handle and waited. It was if he wanted to see if either of them would object to James.

Pidge felt her heart in her throat, but she called out anyway. “Keith?” At first, she was unable to put into words, but he had a right to know. “Something happened between Lance and I.” He kept his hand on the door, but looked over his shoulder at her. She blurted the first thing that came into her mind without consulting Lance. “We kissed.”

Keith let go of the handle and faced her. “So?”

Her ramble came out in a burst. “We are dating, like boyfriend and girlfriend. This has been building for some time, well for me it has been awhile. I didn’t realize what it meant at first, but I do now. This is rather new, but today, we kissed and talked and we admitted we have feelings for each other and we are together, like a couple. I know this might seem strange, or maybe Lance is right and you already know. I wanted to wait to tell people, but you are not just some person and you should know that we are together.”

“So?” Keith looked back and forth at them as if they were nuts. “As the Black Paladin, don’t let it interfere with Voltron. As your friend, it is about time the two of you stop dancing around each other. By the way, James already suspects the two of you are together. Just if the two of you want alone time, just don’t lie about where you are going. Today ended in our favor. We all know that doesn’t happen every day.” 

Pidge nodded yes as her face turned deep red. “Can we wait to tell the others? I don’t want them saying mean things to Lance.” Their faces turned to shock as her words sunk in, but Pidge grew uncomfortable. “Don’t act so surprised. We joke around with each other, but sometimes it is hard to let some jokes go.” 

“I’m tougher than I look Pidge.” Lance said in a matter a fact tone. 

Pidge missed the change between Lance and Keith, but she could tell the two shared a moment. Before she could ask a question, she saw Lance nod reassuringly to Keith.

“Well, we can talk about all this later. Good night you two.” Keith turned and left. 

Pidge locked the door and turned on Lance. “What was the hidden message that Keith sent to you?” She noticed his jaw tighten and pat the bed next to him. “No secrets.”

He arranged himself on his bed on his back as he prepared himself for bed. “Cuddle with me please.” While he felt her shift into position, Lance exhaled. “We had what Keith likes to call a Red Paladin moment.” She put her head on his chest so he ran his fingers through her hair. “Red is temperamental, but good at seeing weak spots.”

“You don’t think the others will tease you.”

His fingers played with her hair. “They will, but I could care less. However, teasing bothers you.” He heard her yawn. “We can talk more tomorrow. Goodnight Katie.” He felt her relax and exhale loudly.

“Goodnight Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late. I also updated some errors in 4 of the other chapters. Enjoy. More to come.


	8. Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge had plans for her day, but will she get sidetracked.  
> Will she be able to help the boy from the picture?  
> Will he trust her?

Awkward was the best way to describe the morning series of events. First, someone knocked on the door and woke them up. Since they woke up tangled in the sheets, Pidge nearly fell off the bed to try to detangle themselves. By the time Lance made it to the door, the person who knocked was nowhere to be found. 

Once they decided to go to breakfast, Lance decided to take off his shirt to change right in the middle of the room. She almost had a heart attack when she realized she had stared at him. Thankfully, he didn’t notice, or he decided not to comment on her lack of self-control. She quickly grabbed her stuff and changed in the bathroom. 

Breakfast was worse because when they walked into the cafeteria Hunk, MFE pilots and Veronica all stopped talking. Lance either played it off that he didn’t care or didn’t notice. After the last couple of days, she would guess he played it off. She realized he did it for her benefit and it made it more nerve raking. 

Sitting at the table, she focused on eating instead of the silence. She sat between Lance and Veronica at the round table with the MFE pilots on the other side of Veronica as Hunk stood next to Lance. She ate her pancakes which she had drenched on the syrup very quickly. 

When she finished the stack, she found half the table staring at her. “What?” Her mind analyzed her eating habits and the speed of which she ate her meal.

Lance kept his eyes on his own food, but he leaned in close and whispered. “They are not sure what to say to you.”

Her eyes narrowed on him as her face scrunched in confusion. “Someone could start with good morning. Isn’t that what normal people start with every day. Or maybe someone could have started with, did you sleep well?”

Lance’s blue eyes looked right at her with a mischievous intent. “Or, must have had a light dinner to be this hungry.”

It took her a moment to calculate his meaning, the team was upset about her comments at dinner. One look at Hunk confirmed her theory. Just like her parents, they wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how. Pidge exhaled loudly and then spoke for the whole table to hear. “Wow, all of you are acting as if you were tortured.” Every eye at the table was on her and she used it to her advantage. “It’s a joke guys, lighten up. I’m fine.”

Lance shook his head no as he spoke to her. “That was terrible. We should not let you speak to anyone, especially the coalition.”

Without thinking she countered, “Well, at least I don’t flirt with everyone that passes by.” Hearing a gasp, she realized she said it aloud. It was Veronica who had gasped, but Pidge turned to see Lance’s face. If she didn’t know any better, she guessed he found her comment funny or at least revealing. After all, her statement revealed more about her feeling for him than she had ever realized. In the past, he might have followed up with something about her being jealous, which now he had proof.

Nadia was the first to recover and changed the subject. “Pidge, what are your plans for today?”

“Plot to take over…” The words died in her throat as Pidge watched Daniel sit down at the next table with his two body guards. 

Her mind formulated a plan before she stood and made her way to him. The closest guard stood in her path, but she made eye contact with Daniel. “Hi, my name is Pidge, you’re Daniel, right?”

It was clear he was on autopilot as he spoke. “Danny.” 

She briefly made eye contact with the guard and then went back to Danny. “Well, Danny, a group of us are going into town today. Would you like to leave the base and hang out?”

The guard stepped closer and snapped at her. “He is not going anywhere with you. He is not leaving the base. You need to leave.” His tone caused the table of people she left a moment ago to stand.

She held up her hand to stop any interference with her friends. “Okay. Relax.” Moving her eyes back to Danny, she felt a surge of her old self coming back. “If you change your mind. We will be at the tower at noon. We will go to eat from there.” When he looked at her, she saw a flash of rebellion. 

“Thanks for the offer. Maybe another time.” His tone gave nothing away, but the way he smiled made her think she would see him later. “It was nice meeting you, Pidge.”

“Nice meeting you, Danny.” She spun around and went back to her table with a smile on her face. Once she sat, the rest of the table followed her. Her eyes landed on Nadia. “Sorry, you asked what I plan to do today. Frist, I need to find one of my parents. Then, we are going into town and set a few things in motion. We can all meet up at the tower at noon. We can eat lunch and see where the afternoon takes us.” Scanning their faces, Pidge felt a sense of pride to throw them off balance. “So, James, can you join us in town today?”

Before James could object, Lance lowered his voice. “Keith said it was important to keep you in the loop.” 

Ryan nudged James and said. “I will go to the meeting if you want.”

Pidge never heard a response because she saw her mom. She stood up, took a few steps from the table and smiled as her mom hurried over. 

Colleen hugged her without hesitation and spoke in her warm loving voice. “Good morning Katie. Did you sleep well?” Pidge blushed as her mom released her. “We have a slight change in plans.” She held out an envelope and waited.

Pidge took it and opened the small white envelope. She flipped through it and found money and a credit card. “What?”

“Well, your dad and I talked last night. We thought you needed some spending money and you can use my card until we get you one.” Colleen grabbed Pidge’s face and forced her to look up. “We are proud of you.” Pidge’s face turned crimson as her mom spoke. “Pay for your tests with the card, buy some clothes if you want, even pay for lunch with your friends.” She nodded toward the table of ease droppers, but Colleen didn’t seem to care.

All Pidge could do was stare at her mom as she willed her brain to pick the right response. “Thank you, mom. I don’t know what to say.”

Her mom eyes shined with pride as she let go of her daughter’s face. “Honestly, I am not surprised at what you did for your brother or Sam. I am not surprised you would put yourself in harm’s way to protect the Universe. However, you are not the only one. You got your rebellious streak from somewhere.” Her mom turned to the table and smiled. “Good morning.” Then, her eyes landed on Lance and Colleen’s smile grew. “Make sure she leaves her laptop here and has some fun today, please Lance.”

“Yes, sounds like a plan, Mrs…”

She laughed at Lance and shook her head no. “Please call me Colleen. Thank you, Lance. Have a great day.” Turning back to Pidge, she winked and then walked away.

For a moment Pidge stood frozen until Lance spoke. “How much did you get?”

Flipping through the money, Pidge sighed. “Five hundred.”

It was Lance’s turn to laugh as he stood. “Well, we have stops to make. We better get started.” Turning to his sister, he held out his hand. “Ready?” 

Veronica rolled her eyes as she stood unassisted. James stood, whispered to Ryan and then moved over to Lance and Veronica. Tension rose between James and Veronica as the four of them walked to the vehicle bay in silence. 

Pidge wanted to go by her lab and grab her laptop, but she was sure no one would let her. Once they entered the vehicle bay, she walked over to the vehicle she used yesterday morning. Without thinking, Pidge jumped into the back of the driver’s side of the military vehicle. Closing the door, she waited for the others. 

Lance slid in to the seat opposite of Pidge with an intense look on his face. James sat down in the driver’s seat and Veronica sat in the passenger seat. She slammed her door but said nothing.

“What happened?” Pidge asked Lance as his eyes stayed fixed on James. “Why are they bent out of shape?”

James started the vehicle, put the vehicle in drive and guided them toward town. Veronica kept her eyes facing forward as her rage increased. Clearly, Veronica was angry with James and no one would tell Pidge why. 

They drove in silence with the occasional loud exhale coming from the front seats. Pidge thought over every interaction from this morning. After picking things apart, Pidge decided to speak up. “James, what meeting did Ryan have to cover for you?”

Exhaling through his teeth, James willed himself to relax. “The visiting Commander wanted a tour and he might not take to kindly to our switch. He keeps threatening to leave.”

Pidge nodded, but focused on the scene out the window. “I hacked into his medical records.” She watched as James gripped the wheel tighter, but said nothing. “He is not Danny’s father, he is Danny’s uncle. Not only that, they are not from around here. It is not clear what happened to his parents. However, I don’t think Danny knows. Don’t worry I’m not going to tell him. At least, not until I know the truth. Oh, and can you please drop us off at the town square?” 

James huffed as he turned down Main street. “First, it is treason to accuse the Commander of wrongdoing without proof. Second, we are supposed to stick together, at least I thought that was why I was here.”

Pidge rolled her eyes as her eyes traveled from the review mirror to Veronica and then to Lance. “Again, I won’t tell Danny until I can prove it, but he deserves to know the truth. As for where we are going, I need to sign up for some tests. If I am lucky, I might be able to take one or two. They won’t let everyone into the exam room. Lance might have to take a test or two to stay close to me.”

Lance chuckled as he winked at Pidge. “Sounds like fun. I’m in.”

Veronica shifted uncomfortable in her seat and spoke over Lance. “What tests?”

She tried to hide her blush but it didn’t stop her from whispering. “The tests are kind of a secret, well at least until they are over.” Pidge paused a moment as the vehicle came to a stop. She hesitated for a moment as she realized they arrived at her destination. “The GED, GRE, and the GRE subject tests.” 

James got out and walked to the passenger side without a word. As Veronica’s mood turned happy, his mood became sour. 

“Good for you.” Veronica nodded and her mood changed to warmth. “Pidge, you are a great influence on my brother.”

Pidge got out and joined James on the sidewalk. When Veronica and Lance arrived, James lowered his voice. “We will keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” 

She walked into the building without speaking to the others. Walking to the counter, she smiled at the man and waited a moment. “Hi. I’m here to take a couple of tests.” Glancing behind her, Pidge found Lance right behind her smiling. Beyond Lance, Pidge saw Veronica and James scoping out the place for threats. 

The man handed Pidge some papers and she moved to the side to fill them out. Lance stepped up next and whispered to him, but Pidge focused on her stuff. While filling out the paperwork she lost sight of Veronica and James. Once she completed her paperwork, paid her fees, and handed in everything, she sat in a nearby seat waiting her turn.

Lance talked with the man in hushed tones for a few minutes. Then, the man directed Lance to a computer to Pidge’s left so he winked as he passed. Lance stared at the screen and closed his eyes for a moment. Opening his eyes, he set to work.

Next, the man pointed at her and then to a computer a few feet away from Lance. She had no idea how Lance did it, but they were at two different computers and less than ten feet apart. Sitting down at her computer, she found her test loaded and ready for her. With one last look at Lance and then the clock, Pidge started her test.

Questions flew by as Pidge read and answered every one without hesitation. At some point she must have moved to the next test because the screen flashed finished. Pidge frowned when she looked at the time. She had a little more than fifteen minutes to get to her rendezvous.

Standing up, she moved over to the man behind the desk. “Sir, I am finished. Do you need anything else today?”

“He was right, watching you answer questions was the best fun I have had in years. You answered so many questions so quickly. At first, I thought you were cheating.” He typed on his computer for a moment. “Then, your friend came over and clued me into your identity.” He held out a piece of paper and she took it. Then, he held out his hand for a handshake. She obliged and found herself holding back a blush. “Thank you, Paladin. Let me know when you are ready for your next test.” He pointed to the entrance. “Your friends are by the door.” 

Unable to speak, Pidge nodded and waved goodbye as she left. Once they reached outside, she raced toward the tower with the rest of them right behind her. They arrived at the base of the structure as a nearby clock chimed signaling noon. 

Ryan, Ina, Nadia and Hunk faced the building as they spotted their arrival. Hunk moved closer to Lance and tapped him on the shoulder. “Can we get food? They said something about food?”

Pidge scanned the area and spotted a familiar figure moving cautiously toward the group. She felt the paper in her hand and held it up and read it. A smile so genuine and sweet crossed her lips as she reviewed the content. “Okay, everyone let’s go get lunch. Do we want Pizza or Sal’s?”

Danny walked up to her with a frown on his face. “You barely made it on time.”

Ina spoke first. “Where are you guards?”

“Pizza or Sal’s?” Pidge asked Danny.

Danny studied Pidge’s face before answering. “What’s Sal?”

James pointed to the nearby pizza place. “Pidge, can we please eat there?” Several agreed with James so the team walked to the restaurant. However, James slowed his pace to walk with Pidge and Danny. His eyes held a suspicious gleam as he reviewed Danny. “Does your guards or your dad know you’re here?”

Danny smirked as he lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, they will be along soon enough.” Instinctively, he rubbed his left wrist, but stopped when he saw Pidge watching him. He moved to blend into the group.

James observed Danny as if the kid had dangerous written all over him. Whispering to Pidge, James kept his eyes on the kid. “Are you trying to piss off the Commander?”

“No. I am just as surprised as you that he showed up.” James head snapped to hers and she knew he didn’t believe her. Her eyes did not agree with her words, but James never spoke of it aloud. “We need to look out for him while he is with us. Trust me.” 

Hunk and Lance got them a table as the rest discussed what they wanted to eat. James and Pidge watched Danny as he stood by the counter not looking at the team. 

The door to the restaurant opened and in walked Keith and Allura causing the team to become quiet. Keith made a straight line for Lance and then motioned for James. They talked in hushed tones as Allura smiled at Pidge and Danny.

Scanning Danny’s arm, Pidge saw a small scar on his wrist. Turning her attention to Allura, Pidge lightly touched her arm. “Danny, this is Allura. Allura is Altean and she has fantastic healing abilities. She can you heal a wound without leaving a mark.” Danny looked at Pidge’s hand pointing at Allura’s wrist. “Allura as per our earlier conversation, it would not change anything at first. We would need to make some precautions, until things could be finalized. We would want to ensure we don’t have to repeat anything.”

It was clear by his face, he understood her meaning and after a few ticks he smiled. “So, the project your working on, how long do you have to wait for things to become final?”

“I’m guessing, but I would say less than a month.” When Danny nodded yes, Pidge moved over to the table. “Hey Hunk, did you bring a scanner or an electronic tracker?”

Hunk reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. “Yeah. I wanted to show Ryan a few recipes I came up with. Why?” Pidge snatched the device and set it next to her with Hunk complaining. “Hey…”

Turning from the server, Pidge caught Keith’s attention. “Can I borrow your blade?” For a moment Keith appeared confused so Pidge added more information. “We need to cut open a very delicate package and I don’t want to hurt the content.” He nodded yes and handed over his knife, but she could tell he was confused. Returning to her work she snatched a pen and Nadia’s cell phone. She set it down next to Hunk’s device and then pointed at Ina’s watch. Without looking she whispered to Danny. “Go wash up really good. We don’t want to be dirty for lunch.”

After she left she addressed her friends. “Hey!” All eyes fell on her as she took the case off the phone and started taking it apart. “When Danny gets back, we need to keep the conversation going without mentioning what is actually happening. The kid needs our help and I have a way to help him, but we are not the only ones listening.” She took appear Hunk’s device and added some pieces from Nadia’s phone. “Allura, you will need to heal him quickly okay? Leave no marks okay. Also, Ina, please hand over the watch.” 

“What are…” Allura started as Danny approached the table but stopped as he sat in the spot next to Pidge.

The waiter came back and delivered everyone’s drinks. Pidge smile innocently at the waiter after finishing putting Hunk’s case back together. “Excuse me, I know this may sound weird, but do you have any hard liquor, like a shot of something?” 

The waiter’s face paled as he looked around the table. “Aren’t you a bit young?”

Veronica spoke up. “It is for me, not her. I lost a bet and I have to drink a shot.” She showed him her id and the waiter nodded then left. 

Upon his return he put the glass in front of Veronica, so Pidge reached over and dropped the tip of the knife in the glass. Ryan took over holding the knife and Pidge scanned the table. She took apart the pen and scanned her surroundings again. Ina had set her watch next to Hunk’s device.

Pointing at the candle at the end of the table causing Lance to pick it up and handed it to her. “How did your test go?” He asked with a slight blush on his cheeks as he changed the subject for her.

“Great. I took three and I didn’t miss a single question.” She glanced around and found confused faces on most and the waiter had disappeared.

Lance chuckled. “Surprise, surprise. You took three test, which takes the average smart person eight to twelve hours to complete. But you were done in four and a half.”

Danny’s eyes were unreadable, as he placed his left arm in front of her. “What tests did you take?”

Pidge ran the scanner over Danny’s arm and the word Calibration flashed. When it beeped, the screen changed to active. She ran a little alcohol over the spot with the scar but focused on his face. “GED, GRE and the GRE Physics test. This is in addition to my thesis work on Computational Physics. Not to mention, the work I have within mathematics and computer science.” Next, she opened the watch and exposed the inner circuits. She calculated the spacing and examined the knife causing her to hesitate.

The boy’s condescending voice broke her from her nervousness. “I thought being a Paladin meant you had to be fearless.” Hunk laughed so loud, Danny turned to say something more but was lost in the laughing.

However, at that same moment Pidge cut Danny’s skin and the boy yelled. She finished before most understood what happened. Slipping a little dot into the open end of the pen, she used the pen to help her guide the dot into the watch’s opening. She closed the watch and set it on the table. Pidge cleaned off the knife and handed it to Keith. The device on the table remained active as she placed the watch on Danny’s wrist. 

Turning back to Danny, Allura had healed his arm, but he stared watch as if it were a death sentence. He whispered to Pidge. “Thank you.”

The pizzas arrived as Pidge finished cleaning up. She handed Hunk’s device to Danny and he slipped it into his pocket. “Just remember, everything changes.” It was clear to her that he was more relaxed since the device was removed. She wanted to tell him so much, but right now she couldn’t. 

Danny grabbed a slice of pizza and dug in with the rest. 

Conversation began with the discussion of toppings. Followed by a few rounds of Ina questions. But Pidge sat between Danny and Veronica in silence. However, she heard her name so her head snapped toward the source. Her eyes met Keith’s as he stared at her. “What? I wasn’t listening.”

Several chuckled as Keith cleared his throat. “Pidge, why did you take so many tests?”

Without emotion or hesitation, she answered. “I working toward getting at least two PhDs, maybe four if I can cover enough with the work I have so far.”

At first everyone stared at her and then Nadia spit her drink out all over Ryan. He jumped up and hit the table with his knee and knocked over some drinks. One spilled on Veronica’s lap which caused her to jump up in surprise. The room exploded with laughter and bickering as the team recovered.

Danny tugged on Pidge’s sleeve. “I should get back before my dad freaks.”

“I will be stuck at the Garrison tomorrow, you should come to my lab. We can talk then.”


	9. Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it is time for James and Matt to stop fighting.   
> Maybe all it will take his a confession or two.

After lunch James, Lance and Pidge decided to break off from the rest of the group and went clothes shopping. Strangely enough it was not awkward shopping as the went from store to store. 

Pidge was not big on buying much, but she did look at the different styles. When she bought an item at a store, James insisted on carrying it. She tried to distracted herself by looking at dresses and ignoring the boys. Therefore, she stood by a mirror as she held up a dress to her body and tired to picture herself wearing it.

Lance strolled over to Pidge as James kept his eyes on the area outside the store. Lance observed the nervousness in her eyes. “It is beautiful, but not as much as you.”

She rolled her eyes as she pulled away the dress and put it back on the rack. “Lance, please don’t.”

Lance lifted it off the rack and examined the tag. Glancing around, Lance confirmed they were technically alone. “Katie, just take the compliment and let me flirt with you.” His eyes examined hers as he smirked at her. “Besides, I firmly believe it is okay to like a dress and you would still be able to kick butt.”

Pidge turned toward James, but Lance caught her arm. “Lance, just let it go.”

“Your arm or the dress?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows and smirked. “After everything, do you think I wouldn’t want to buy something nice for my best friend? After all, we went to the space mall and I said I would buy something nice for a pretty girl. How would this be different?” She blushed again as she slipped out of his grasp, but Lance moved in close.

James cleared his throat and the two stood apart from each other with a frown on Lance’s face. “I took the stuff to the vehicle.” He pointed to the window with a timid smile on his lips. “However, on my way I passed an ice cream store.”

Pidge nodded and quickly moved to the door. “Sounds like fun. Right Lance? We can get ice cream.” She saw Lance nod in agreement, but this conversation was far from over.

James opened the door for Pidge and whispered. “Sorry I interrupted you two earlier. But it is good to see you smiling.” He tilted his head in Lance’s direction as they stepped onto the sidewalk. “I think Lance likes to see you too.”

Rolling her eyes, she did not have time to warn James as Matt bumped into him. Pidge noticed Matt exiting a jewelry store with he had a small package in his hand. “Matt.” Pidge shrieked in order to distract him and prevent an argument between James and Matt. 

His shoulder’s tightened as he slipped his package into his pocket. “Katie?” He asked wearily as he straighten his clothes. “What brings you here?”

Lance walked up to Matt and smiled. “Hey Matt. Good to see you.” Judging the situation better than her, Lance pointed to an ice cream shop. “Care to join us for a snack before we go back to the Garrison?”

“Why are the two of you hanging out with Griffin?” Matt all but growled at Lance and Pidge.

James’ face and voice matched in anger. “I’ll have you know we were having fun until you arrived.”

Matt countered with the same nastiest. “Lance is too polite to say something to your face, but I bet they would have more fun without you.”

“Enough!” Pidge yelled as she stood staring down Matt and James. “What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” She turned to Lance and her demeanor changed making her cheeks turned pink as gazed into his eyes as she spoke. “Let’s get a dessert. Then, just the two of us can hang out and we’ll call for a ride later.” She saw a look of understanding cross his face so she nodded at him. Glancing at her brother and James, Pidge lowered her voice. “Don’t follow us unless you are on your best behavior.” She turned, walked down the block and into the ice cream shop. 

Behind the counter she found the young man who worked at Sal’s. His shoulders tensed when he saw her. She smiled politely, then looked over all the flavors. When she looked up she found him staring at her. “I want two scoop of rocky road.”

The door opened and in strolled Lance. He moved right next to her and put his arm on her shoulder. He leans in close and whispers in her ear. “Do you like science?” When she looks at him funny, he continues. “Because I've got my ion you.”

She rolled her eyes as she glanced at Lance and then back to the ice cream case. “Not bad, kind of cute. But I am not really into pickup lines.” Lance appeared a little dejected, so she sighed. “However, your normal quick wit and use of a good double entendre has always made me smile.” 

The young man watched the interaction and patiently waited until both turned to him. He handed Pidge her ice cream and looked at Lance. “Be nice to her, she deserves it.”

To say Pidge felt stunned was an understatement, but she kept her cool. “Lance, this is an old classmate of mine, Max. Max, this is my boyfriend Lance.” She saw confusion followed by nervousness cross Max’s face. “Max knew me before I became Pidge. Actually, he made the transition to Pidge easier.”

The famous smile plastered to Lance’s face, he held out his hand to shake Max’s hand. “Nice to meet a friend of Pidge’s.”

Awkwardness coursed through her as Max tentatively shook Lance’s hand. “Max and I weren’t close, but he has been nice since we returned to Earth.” Lance gave nothing away on his face, but she was sure they would talk about this interaction later.

Lance let go of Max and looked over his ice cream options. “Double Chocolate Chip please.” His relaxed smile and body hide the questions that flashed in his eyes.

The door opened again, and this time Matt and James entered only the two of them were not arguing. Max handed Lance his ice cream but tensed when he saw James. 

Matt playfully bumped Pidge as he looked at the ice cream. “Pidge, let me guess, rocky road.”

Rolling her eyes, Pidge bumped him back. “Let me guess, Mint Chocolate Chip with sprinkles.” Then, she glanced at James to see what he would get. It was clear from James’ tense face he remembered the young man. 

James cleared his throat loudly before snapping at Max. “Mint Chocolate Chip with sprinkles, please.” His eyes focused solely on Max.

Pidge chuckled at James and caused the four males to look at her. “Max, please get Matt the same order as James. Oh, and this is my brother Matt.” She pointed to her frowning brother. “This is my adopted brother James.” Then, she pointed to James. “This is my old classmate, now friend Max.” She politely warned them. “Be nice guys.” Then, she moved to the register.

Max swiftly turned to make their desserts while he heard Lance whine. “I didn’t get sprinkles.”

Pidge giggled as Lance pouted and Max handed out Matt and James order. Max handed a container to Pidge as she prepared to pay. Glancing down she saw Lance’s sprinkles. “So, you work here and Sal’s?”

He nodded yes as he rang out her order and took her card for payment. “Yes. On the weekends, I work at the pizza place around the corner.” He handed her the change and added. “Thank you.”

“Feel free to call me Pidge from now on.” She said as she picked up her stuff, gave him a tip and moved to her friends. They watched her approach the table and sit on the same side as Lance. “Here,” she said as she handed him sprinkles.

At first, they ate in silence, but she could tell the mood had changed. Glancing from James to Matt, she wondered if they were okay with her outburst earlier. Or were they only faking a change to not piss her off. “What got your panties in a twist?”

Lance laughed loud and almost choked on his ice cream. “I swear, you are not allowed to be a diplomat.” Max appeared at the table and passed Lance a cup of water, then disappeared again. “You do realize this is your fault, right?” Pointing to her brothers, Lance smiled.

“How so?”

Matt voice held a sincere tone as he spoke to his sister. “You think of James as a brother?” 

She held a confused look on her face as she said yes. “Why wouldn’t I? He is always looking out for me. He keeps me out of trouble and he never asks questions. He is just there when I need him. Just like you.”.

All James managed to say was “thank you.” 

All he received was Pidge shrugged her shoulders as she took a bite of her ice cream. “Hell, I would have thought Matt would have ended up like James if it weren’t for getting captured by the Galra.” She went back to eating her ice cream.

Matt and James both stiffened in response, Lance noticed. However, it was clear to Matt that Pidge missed the true impact. “Katie, I would not have turned out like James.”

Lance ate his ice cream slowly, but it was clear he wanted to say something. He stayed focused on his cup at first and then looked directly at Matt. “Hey Matt, you should know that your sister has a boyfriend.” 

Matt sat back a little in his chair as his eyes landed on Pidge. “You are full of surprises today.” He looked ready to say something, but James cut him off.

James’ eyes bounced between Pidge and Lance. “Lance, if she wants to keep it private, it is up to her. You should respect her privacy.”

Pidge rolled her eyes but leaned onto Lance’s shoulder. “First Veronica, now them.”

Lance turned on her. “Veronica walking in on us was unfortunate, but your ‘brothers’ should know before the rest of the Garrison figures it out.” Lance used air quotes when he said brothers. “Would you want someone else to tell them?”

“Unfortunate?” Pidge made a noise which was a cross between a snort and a laugh. “Lance, please. Veronica walked in on us while we were having our first kiss. Then, thirty ticks later, my dad walked in the room.” She exhaled loudly as she threw her arms in the air.

“Okay, the timing was bad. But it was more like our third kiss, not the first and…”

“Fine, our first time making out then…”

Matt cleared his throat and both Pidge and Lance turned to him. “As your eldest brother, some advice. First, always lock the door, no one wants to walk in on a couple. Second, try not to be overly PDA. Third, you need to let Keith and our parents in on your relationship before someone goes running to them with this information. Fourth, congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”

Pidge countered her brother’s statement. “We told Keith yesterday, he didn’t seem to care.” She moved her empty ice cream cup away from her. “Also, I think mom already knows based off her comments.”

James shifted uncomfortably in his chair before he spoke. “When did Veronica walk in on you?”

It was Lance’s turn to shift in his seat. “Yesterday?”

Both James and Matt, yelled “What?” James exhaled and noticeably calmed down. “How long have the two of you liked each other?”

“A few months.” Lance answered quickly as he refused to make eye contact.

Pidge glanced from Lance to her brothers. Both were very relaxed with this conversation, but she noticed Lance wasn’t. “Okay, fine. Truth is, Lance has liked me a few months. I was not fully aware of my feeling for Lance. Well, until about eight maybe nine months ago. But, I now realize it probably started back at the Garrison.”

Matt leaned forward with a big grin on his face. “You mean when you first got to the Garrison and everyone thought you were a boy.” Matt bumped James’ arm. “Wow. I knew Dad was wrong about you ending up with Hunk.”

Pidge smiled innocently at Matt as she softened her voice. “So, since we told you our secret. When are you going to propose to Nyma?” Matt blushed as his body became straight as a board while James and Lance stared at her. “Matt, you bumped into James coming out of a jewelry store with a small box. What’s in it?”

Quickly, James came to Matt’s defense. “I’m sure he had his reasons for being there. We should let him keep to his own business.”

“Okay.” She turned to James as her new target. “James, when are you going to ask Veronica out on a date?” As James turned white, Lance choked on his water, which cause Pidge to chuckle. “Oh, come on. The two of you are always sitting by one another. You hang out on your off time. How many times have I asked for a ride and you show up with Veronica?” James opened his mouth to speak, but Pidge continued her train of thought. “Did you think, I wouldn’t see the same signs of hesitation when you have feelings for someone, that I see in myself? You want to say something, but are too afraid they would say no. Or worse, they say yes.”

Lance appeared deep in thought as Pidge talked, then turned to Matt. “Matt, did Nyma ask you out or did you ask her?” When Matt turned pale, Lance leaned back in his chair. “Okay. Now, I see why Pidge lumps James in with being a Holt.” He shook his head at them. “All three of you make much more sense now.” The three in question stared at him with confusion on their faces. “The Holt family is fearless when someone they love is threaten.” He studied their faces, then continued. “In that respect, in the heat of battle, it is okay to risk life and limb for others.” Pidge looked nervous the more he talked, but Lance knew he could help. “However, in your personal lives, all of you are exceedingly secretive and nervous about letting others in.”

Max came over to the table with a confused look. “Are you all okay?”

Pidge nodded yes. “It’s okay Max. Just getting into a debate. We will try to keep it down.”

Matt eyes bounced back and forth between Lance and James. “We are good, Max. Lance was helping us understand each other better.” 

As Max slowly retreated, Lance whispered. “Matt, you do not need a grand gesture to make Nyma happy, she loves you. James, if you truly have feelings for Veronica, tell her the truth.” As Lance said her name, Pidge swallowed hard. “Katie… Please give them a break, it is hard when the youngest makes everything look easy.”

Once his words set in, Pidge laughed and shook her head. “You are rotten and you say I shouldn’t be a diplomat.” A light blush came back to her cheeks as her brothers snapped out of their funk. “We should get back to the Garrison. Sounds like my brothers have work to do.” 

James shook his head no. “Lance, nothing will happen between Veronica and me.”

Lance leaned across the table and whispered. “I’m sure she tells herself that nothing will ever happen too.” He pinned James with his stare and his voice sounded a little harsh. “You are not as alone as you think. If you don’t believe me, maybe one of them came make you see reason.” After he finished, Lance stood and got rid of his trash.

The rest of them stood and headed for the door as Lance walked outside. 

James grabbed Pidge’s arm as she grabbed the handle to leave. James kept his voice low for Matt and Pidge. “You need to be very careful.” James glanced around. “If I were your enemy, I would use Lance against you in a heartbeat.”

Matt chuckled as James let go of Pidge. “Wow. That is not where I thought you were going with that. We will need to work on your big brother skills.” Matt passed them and went outside. 

Pidge and James followed and joined the other two next to the vehicle. Once James was behind the wheel with Matt in the passenger seat, James turned to Matt. Pidge and Lance had just closed the door when James spoke. “What do you mean back there?”

Matt laughed again. Then, he turned in his seat to faced Lance who sat in the back seat. “Lance, what if I told you someone said to Veronica, you need to be careful. Right after she said she had a boyfriend. What would be the first thing that popped in your mind?”

Lance paled slightly as he responded without eye contact. “Either he didn’t approve of the boyfriend or he was talking about using protection during…”

“Hand to hand combat?” Matt laughed as James turned his angry look to him and while Pidge and Lance blushed. “He warned her about our enemies using you as bait against her.” He wiped a tear from his eye and took a deep breath. “However, I thought the same as you Lance. I mean, Pidge is a Paladin of Voltron, she knows the risks of war.” James recovered and started the vehicle without looking toward Matt, but the older Holt just smiled. 

Pidge thought about it and rolled her eyes. “I dropped out of middle school, but I am not stupid. I know about sex and how everything works.” When Lance tensed, she glanced at his ridged posture. “Oh please, like the three of you haven’t thought, studied or may even have had sex. I maybe young, but I’m not naïve.” Then she huffed as she crossed her arms. 

James put the vehicle in drive. “Why do you have to be such a pain?” As he threw an angry glance to Matt, who smiled at him. “Can we please change the subject?”

Glancing back at his sister, Matt focused on James. “James, don’t be such a stick in the mud. It is a family tradition to harass each other. You should think of this as a welcome to the family treatment.” 

Pidge saw James and Matt talking like siblings and it warmed her heart. For the first time in a long time, she was home. Her eyes gazed at Lance as he stayed deep in thought. Whispering to Lance, Pidge softened her tone. “Can I work in the lab a little bit when we get back? After we can eat dinner, then play some video games. Or watch a movie. What do you say?”

A smirk graced his lips as he turned to her and spoke in whispered tones. “Whatever you want to do is fine by me.”


	10. Bracelet removal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has to deal with being honest with Matt and James.  
> Meanwhile, Pidge has a heart to heart with Keith.  
> Will Pidge admit to Lance what she feels for him.

First, they returned from shopping and Pidge had to deal with what felt like endless interruptions by Matt and James as she worked in the lab. Lance sat quietly off to the side and seemed unaffected by her brother’s bickering.

Then, Allura dropped by as Matt and James left to discuss human physiology. She wanted a comparison between Alteans, the people of Earth and the Galra. Pidge did not focus on why Allura came to her, but Lance’s suspicious expression told her volumes. 

At dinner, in the packed cafeteria, Pidge sat through a debriefing of what happened with Keith and Allura during their trip. Pidge had not paid attention at lunch and missed the mission failed because the enemy knew they were coming. She kept her face passive, but she caught Danny staring at one of his guards and the other one stopping him. It was clear one of the guards was loyal to Danny and the other had loyalty to the Commander. 

Finally, Lance and Pidge were told to stop by med bay before turning in for the evening. Pidge barely listened about why, something about reviewing her progress. 

Once inside the med bay, Pidge half listened as Hunk went over the results. Pidge’s head snapped to Hunk when she realized her bracelet time was over. Hunk announced that he reviewed Pidge’s results with the bracelet and the bracelet was no longer needed. Her test results indicated she was back to normal, so Hunk pulled them into the med bay and removed them. Her voice sounded excited as she blurted out a response. “Really?

Hunk smiled, and he moved over toward Lance as his cheerful voice filled the air. “Yes. Coran and Allura agreed that your time being stuck together is over.” Lance held out his arm with a smile on his face and Hunk rotated Lance’s wrist.

As Hunk removed Lance’s bracelet, Pidge rotated hers and saw the clasp for removing it. However, she couldn’t bring herself to remove it. 

Hunk broke her from her thoughts as he spoke in good humor. “Now, the two of you won’t have to spend every minute together. You can be free to work in your lab by yourself.” 

For a moment, Pidge felt offended. Pidge realized that she had always made a big deal about people in her lab. “He has some crazy ideas and it does help to see things from a new perspective. I’m going to miss it, us being so close all the time.” At Hunk’s gasp, Pidge focused on her friend’s face. 

Hunk stuttered around. “Pidge there is something… you should know about what happened between Lance and...”

Pidge rolled her eyes, then spoke louder than intended. “Sunset.” When Hunk froze in place, she continued. “Do you remember us finding the spore outside the Castle which led us to Olkira. Shiro, Keith, and the three of us were outside the ship repairing it.”

Hunk added with a dreamy look on his face. “It looked like a curly fry.” 

Pidge smiled. “Yes. Well, remember Lance almost blew up the ship? After I fixed it, I admired the design and thought it was elegant. Lance said…”

“It’s not a sunset Pidge.” Lance said with a smirk. “I still believe you were going to carry your secret to the grave and never tell me.”

Pidge scoffed at his statement and moved closer to a nearby table. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. We discussed this and it should come as no shock that I am secretive. I still have people who think I am a boy.” She looked right at Lance for a second then back to the table of equipment in front of her.

Lance shook his head in agreement and stepped closer her. “You are never going to let me live any of this down, are you?”

“It is what it is, own it.” She shrugged and turned to face Hunk. “Why don’t the two of you go have fun? I want to run numbers before I turn in.”

She waited until Hunk and Lance started talking about stupid stuff and quietly excused herself. Pidge went to her lab and flung herself into work. Her lab was quiet, but her mind wondered to Lance. Periodically, she found herself rubbing her arm and looking around for Lance. She straightened all her supplies and organized all of her projects within Green’s hanger. After a couple of hours, she wondered where her time went. 

Green would mentally poke her with images of Lance and her having fun. She sighed for the hundredth time as she heard someone approach the hanger door. She sat rubbing her arm as she was pulled from her thoughts by a knock so she moved to the door and opened it. James and Matt smiled at her in the creepy I have a secret kind of way. “What do you two want?”

Matt leaned in and whispered. “You’re coming with us?” Then, he held out his arm like a gentleman and waited. When she continued to scan them, Matt spoke a little harsher. “We are here to rescue you from boredom and give you a surprise. Come with us and see what we have done.”

James peaked inside as Pidge stepped into the hallway. James meant well, but again he put his foot in his mouth. “Where’s Lance?”

“Don’t know.” She stated as she linked her arms with Matt. “We got our bracelet’s off and he went to hang out with Hunk, while I came here.” She linked her other arm with James. “Where is this surprise?” 

She rolled her eyes as the three turned the corner to the hallway where Lance’s room was the second door on the right. She half expected the two of them to stop at Lance’s door, but she watched as they went to the door right after his. 

Matt opened the door so she stepped inside causing them to follow her. She stopped to examined the room. It was a mirror image of Lance’s room only with one bed against the wall and her stuff piled orderly on the desk. 

Matt moved past her and sat on the bed and motioned for her to follow. As he patted the bed, James closed the door. Matt’s voice held that sweet innocent tone. “The plans are for the Paladins to each have a room in this hallway. Lance was the first to more in. Now, you are the second.”

She sat next to Matt causing James to sit on the other side of her. For the first time since she met him, James appeared nervous. His voice gave nothing away. “Did you not like it? We carried the boxes in here, it is up to you to organize them.”

“Thank you both, this is great.” Pidge replied as she scanned the room again as her mind compared it to the Castle. 

James snapped her from her thoughts as his voice filled with humor. “Thinking about loverboy?”

She rolled her eyes and bumped James’ shoulder with her own. “Please do not call him that. He has a big enough ego already.” She felt the blush come without permission. “This is great and I love it. I am a little surprised the two of you are thick as thieves. I knew it would happen, but I thought it would take me beating you both at Kilbot first. Where is the gaming system by the way?” Once the words left her mouth, she spotted her electronics already setup. She jumped to her feet and inspected her brothers’ work.

Matt and James stood, shared a look and headed to the door. Matt smiled as he pulled her into a hug. “He is not so bad.” James whined something, but Matt continued. “Why don’t you get settled in, we can hang out later? I love you.” Then he kissed her cheek and let her go. “Come on James, let’s go cause some trouble.”

“Night Pidge.” Escaped James in a hurry as Matt pulled him out of the room.

On a new mission, Pidge went through her stuff and organized everything into her logical storage system. In a short amount of time, her room was just the way she liked it. 

Feeling tired, Pidge decided to take a shower. Grabbing her supplies, she marched into the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Time flew as she finished her shower and walked into her room in a towel. She dressed in her green Paladin pajamas and the green lion slippers, which she found in a drawer under her bed. She smiled at the memory of the first time she saw Lance in his Blue lion slippers rubbing the sleep from his eyes during Allura’s fake alarm. She had every intent on going to bed until a small knock on her door. Opening the door, she felt surprised to find Keith dressed in paladin pajamas.

“Can I come in before someone sees me dressed like this?” He seemed nervous and unsure.

She chuckled and shifted to let him in, but paused briefly to check the hall. She spun to face him and found him frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“Shiro’s not with me. I came alone.”

Her face morphed into confusion as she passed him and sat on the bed. “I didn’t know you two were a couple. Personally, I could see you with Allura, Acxa, hell maybe even Lance. However, I never saw the two of you as anything more than brothers. Guess I was wrong.”

His face shifted from confusion to realization and finally shock. “What? No. I came here to talk, I thought you thought Shiro came to talk to you instead of me. I… we… I’m single and I…”

For what seemed like months, Pidge laughed. She let go and laughed. “Sorry. I thought you meant… On second thought, let’s drop it.” She paused a moment to collect her thoughts. “Lance. I thought Lance was in the hallway with you.”

Keith nodded and sat in the desk chair backwards with his face an unreadable mask. “I wanted to check in and see how you are doing. Between the grenade and your relationship with Lance. How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine.” She winced when he raised his eyebrow. “I am doing good, really. Bracelet came off today. I was cleared. Also, thank you for help approve my room.” She smiled while rubbing her wrist without thinking. “Why did you think I thought you brought Shiro? Are you still hung up on thinking I talk to him and not you? That is not true by the way.”

Smiling as if he expected her questions, Keith inspected the room. “You know why. You are our resident genius. You know why I’m here, what I will ask.” Pointing at the wall behind her, Keith asked. “So to change the subject, did you need Christmas lights?”

“I didn’t talk to Shiro that often in the castle. Actually, I might have received the sex talk or a don’t fall for him Katie, if I told him about Lance. As for the lights, I didn’t put them up because I think they bother Lance. He listens to music to fall asleep, but it is not a requirement. However, he likes it dark otherwise he has a hard time falling asleep. Sorry, I’m rambling.” She watched as Keith stood and move over to sit next to her on the bed. “Back to the reason why you came. I have a theory about the Commander.”

“I figured.”

She saw the tiredness in his face, but decided not to comment. “The Commander has a ship in orbit and I believe he is the one who sent Zethrid to attack us. I have a plan to protect Danny and to get on the ship only…”

“Pidge, do you think this is vital to gathering information on our enemy?” When she nodded yes, he leaned his back to the wall. “It is dangerous and you haven’t told Lance.” 

“I can mask myself, but that’s it. Also, I have a way to get Zethrid and Ezor on our side.” She watched his reaction, only he never moved. “Within the next four weeks, we will have our answer.”

Staring at her, Keith asked the hard question. “Do you think Lance won’t approve or that he would talk you out of going?”

“No. It’s more like he would worry. He would worry like he did when Allura went off with Lotor.” Her eyes softened as she blushed. “He would rather take the risk than let someone else.” She rubbed her wrist, but stopped when she realized Keith saw her movement. “You saw how he got in the cell when Ezor attacked.”

Keith’s darted his eyes to his own hands as he tried to decide his words. “Sounds like the two of you are closer than you first thought. How about we wait a week or two and if nothing happens, then we tell him. We can change our tactic and take the fight to them.” He shifted to stand up, but instead found himself receiving a hug from Pidge. “Okay?”

She mumbled as they pulled apart. “Thanks Keith.”

“Wow, you guys sure like your hugs. First, Allura. Then, Hunk. Now, you. Lance likes to stop by in the middle of the night to let me know how the team is doing. Mom warned me.” At her confused look he continued. “My mom said the sign of a good leader is someone who’s team comes to them with their problems and tries to have solutions. They respect each other and work well together. They also tend t think of each other as a family or pack.”

Pidge shifted back on her bed before commenting. “I’m happy you found her. Sounds like she is taught you a lot while you were gone.”

“Sorry I left the team alone with the Shiro clone. If I had known…”

Poking his side, she chuckled. “We are stronger now and everything worked out. No one on the team needs to take full responsibility for what happens. We are in this together.”

Shifting to sit up straight, Keith lowered his voice as he spoke. “Every time I think I have something figured out, you surprise me. Back to an earlier conversation, why do you think you can turn Zethrid and Ezor? We blew up their ship and you said Zethrid has a scar on her face.” 

She watched his face as she answered. “Everyone is afraid of something. They live in fear of Lotor finding them and following his threat to wipe them out. As for Danny’s guards, at least one of them is loyal to Danny. The other is much more shielded, harder to read.”

His face softened as he considered her words. “I know a few people like that. Always thinking a few steps ahead, but deep down not wanting to fail to protect those they love.”

Pidge shifted uncomfortably and gazed at the floor. “Am I that obvious?”

He bumped her should and earned her facing him. “You are not the only one. It could be the life of certain Paladins. I would never admit such as thing aloud about myself. Then we have Lance, he was not that way, but I‘ve noticed a slight change in him.” Watching her thoughts overanalyze his words, Keith smirked. “That is why I think the two of you being together is a good thing. You balance each other and both of you seem relaxed, happier.” He stood and stretched. “Well it is getting late. Good talk Katie.”

“Good talk Keith.” Pidge said from her seat. “Dream about whoever.”

“If I was in a relationship, I wouldn’t hide it. I would tell the team.” As Keith walked to the door, he heard a small knock. Pidge sat up alert, but Keith figured who had come for a visit. “I’ll get it.” He said as he opened the door and found a shocked Lance. “Hey Lance, good seeing you. Nice pjs.” Keith smiled at Lance’s pajamas that looked similar to his. “Well, I’m going to bed. Good night you two.” As he walked out, he turned the lock and shut the door behind him.

“Hey Lance.”

“Hi.”

Tilting her head to the side, she sighed. “Are you okay? Did you have fun with Hunk?” When he hesitated to answer she patted the bed next to her. “Like my room? Matt and James helped me. I decorated myself.” 

“Where is your Christmas lights? You always had Christmas lights in your room in the castle.” He eyes searched her stuff for the said item, but when his eyes landed back on her, he froze. 

Her tone held a soft and soothing tone as she padded the bed again. “Please sit.” A blush appeared on her cheeks as she focused on her lap. “I didn’t want to put up the lights.” She heard him moving, but did not look up. “We can talk tomorrow if you want.” Even when he sat next to her, she refused to look at him. “Lance, I…”

His quiet tone was heard over the sound of her equipment. “You are beautiful.” Snapping her eyes to him caused him to pause a moment. “You are my best friend and I am so glad I followed you to the roof.”

Nervousness etched her voice as she spoke. “Where is this coming from?” 

Scooting closer, Lance pulled her the rest of the way to him. “You do not like big gestures, you are not someone who wants material things. However, I like to shower those that are important to me with affection.” He rotated slightly so they were face to face. “I appreciate your need to make me comfortable in your room. But if you want lights up, you should have lights up. If it is such a big deal, we can shut them off when we are sleeping.” As her blush deepened, he leaned his face close to hers. “I love it when you blush. It reveals your affection for me.”

“You’re my best friend and I want you to be happy. I can put up the lights later.” She pressed her lips to his. He leaned back and took her with him. She went from a seated position to laying on top of him. When they broke apart, she spoke. “That ever work before?”

“Never tried.” He smiled as his hand touched her face. “Besides, I have never had someone have feelings for me. We are both in uncharted territory.” His fingers played with a stray strand of hair as he spoke. “Can we go on an official date soon? We could go shopping again, dinner, movie, play games, whatever your heart desires.”

She bit her lip as her hand grabbed imaginary glasses. “We could… How about we play a game here? Sound like fun? What do you say tomorrow night?”

“We can start there.” He whispered as he pulled her back down for another kiss. “Did you play with some of the equipment in your lab?”

“Yes, why?”

He chuckled before shifting her ear closer to his lips. “You have a little smug on your neck. Don’t worry, I can help.” For dramatic effect, he playfully bit her neck causing her to squirm. As she tried to push him away, he rolled her over and pinned her to the bed. Pulling back to see her face, he smirked. “Sorry, I was wrong, it was nothing.” He winked.

She reached up with her free hand and pulled his head closer, while her other hand grabbed his arm. “You will pay for that.” She crushed her lips to his with more force he used with her. His kisses were slow and delicate, but hers were filled with need and speed.

Pulling apart, he smiled. “Well, it is getting late. Want to turn in for the night. We can pick up tomorrow?”

She hid her disappointment, but smiled. “Sounds like a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took awhile.  
> Enjoy.


	11. Plan A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All hell breaks loose as the Commander attacks the wrong Paladin.  
> What will happen when one of their own is attacked?  
> How will Pidge react?

A week later, Pidge had fallen into a routine that was as close to normal as she could get. During the day, Pidge worked on projects while monitoring Danny. Her ‘brothers’ and parents loved to work on projects or go on missions with her. She even spent some time with Shiro. 

In the evening, she found a justification to hold up in her hanger or go to her room. In her hanger, Pidge continued her research and chatted with Lance. If she went to her room, Lance would show up and they would play video games or watch movies.

Again, she felt weird about missing the bracelets, but she never said anything aloud; especially to Lance.

She had entered her lab to work on a communication device with James and Matt in tow when her glasses beeped. Sighing and ignoring the guys knowing looks, she picked up the glasses and put them on her face.

An image of the latest work site came into view as Lance’s voice filled the background. “Okay, I am not really happy with the Holt siblings right now. Your parents are nice people. Your mom is cool, and I do not know how she puts up with all of you. The woman is a saint and she should have an all-expense paid vacation.” His hands appeared in the lower portion of the screen as he connected wires to a broken pole. “Your poor dad, he gives in to the three of you way too much.” 

Lance exhaled loudly, and the movement on screen suggested he wiped his eyebrows with his right arm. “Matt is the oldest and should lead as example. He is expecting everything to be prefect when life so rarely turns out that way. He should pull Nyma aside, tell her he loves her and that he wants to get married. Stop letting the ring burn a hole in his pocket.” 

Pidge glanced over at Matt and she could tell her brother knew Lance was complaining about him. The oldest Holt waved at the glasses as if Matt thought Lance would appreciate the gesture. 

Lance moved to the next fallen pole, set it up correctly and began to tap on the screen. “I understand he wants her to be happy. But come on, she loves him and he should not waste time. Life is short. None of us know what the future holds.” 

Once complete with the screen, Lance turned back to his vehicle and pulled out another scanner. “Now, for your adopted brother. I admit, in the beginning I did not see him in the same light as Matt. Now, I can’t stop seeing it. They are like twins only, slightly different personalities. Same conviction, same waiting tactic. The main different is the amount of rule breaking. Out of all the Holts, you win hands down by the way.” Turning the system back on, Lance put his tools away. “He could learn a thing from Matt when it comes to asking a girl out. At least, Matt asked out a girl before Kerberos. James should either leave her alone or ask Veronica out on a date already. The two of them should grow up and admit their feelings before other people get hurt.”

This time Pidge turned and found James laughing at Matt as the two held some private conversation.

Entering his vehicle, Lance started the engine and put it in drive. “That leaves the youngest and most infuriating Holt on the planet, or should say Universe.” He drove in silence for at least a minute.

Pidge’s voice softly snapped. “I’m not sure I deserve that title.”

He laughed as the vehicle came to a stop and he shut off the engine. “Really. Get your driver’s license yet? Did you tell your parents you don’t need them, Matt or James driving you around? It is not like you haven’t driven a lion across the expanse of the universe.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes.” A beeping sound came from a panel on the dash and Lance switched it off. “When are we going on our first official date?”

Pidge felt the eyes burning a hole onto her from her brothers, but she refused to glance over. For a moment, she thought of several come backs, but none of them were very good. Finally, she looked over at them to find them staring at her in confusion. “Don’t know. I would have like to go yesterday or even tonight, but every time I try to plan something, I get a new body guard. Take yesterday as example, it was a disaster.”

“Well that is your own fault. The Commander hates us and wants Danny far away from you. You have a tendency to get people to break the rules Pidge.” Lance stated as Pidge let out a moan. Lance continued to type on his display. “What is the problem anyway? Are you afraid everyone will think we developed feeling for each other since the bracelets…”

She never missed a beat as she snapped at him. “That is not my fault. If you didn’t flirt...”

“Wait one minute.” His voice held a slight anger in his tone that could be heard in the quiet room. After a deep breath, a map appeared on the display causing Lance to switch views on the monitor. “You never said you were interested. If I had known you had feeling for me for the LAST YEAR, things would be different.” He got out of the vehicle. “Pidge, that is all in the past. Who cares what others think.”

Pidge’s voice was quieter than before. “Lance, I don’t care what others think. I am a Paladin of Voltron and free to make my own choices. I am a force of nature.”

Lance walked to the nearest pole and examined the damage. “I feel like an idiot. All the time we spent together: playing video games, bugging you in your lab, invading personal space, sitting next to each other at meals, the fact you always let me borrow your stuff when you always yell at Hunk...”

“You’re not stupid Lance. I’m really good at misdirection and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I had feelings for you sooner. I was afraid of the rejection.” 

The smirk in his tone was felt down to her core. “Your jealousy is adorable and our time at the mall…” His wrist unit beeped again so he turned his wrist to face the display. “Why does it signal the tower? I took the tower offline when I started working on the system.”

Ignoring Matt, Pidge moved over to her computer and began typing as she spoke. “Hold on, let me run a diagnostic. The sensors should have shut the system down or at least switched to sleep mode.” She exhaled loudly again.

He chuckled as he looked up at the desert view. “You exhale a lot. Did you know that? You also run your fingers over the keys even when you are not typing. It makes it appear you are typing but you’re not. It’s a nervous tick. It is actually rather adorable watching you concentrate.” A light far off in the distance seemed to move different than the others. “Did you see that?”

Once the typing stopped, Pidge spoke. “Lance, I need you to come back to the Garrison now.”

“Why?”

The lights moved closer to Lance’s position and Pidge tried to keep emotion out of her voice. “You need to get in the vehicle and head straight back here. Or call for Red. Do you hear me?”

His voice was calm, but forceful. “Katie, go get Keith and tell him what’s happening.”

“No.”

“Katie, we don’t have time to argue. Stick to our agreement. They are coming fast and I already gave away my signal when I arrived.” He moved to the far side of the vehicle and crouched down. His bayard transformed into a sniper rifle. “Katie, promise me you won’t do something stupid.” Another beep caused Lance to snap. “Katie Rose Holt?”

Her voice sounded on the verge of tears. “I promise.” She turned and found her brothers alert. Without a word she turned and bolted for the door. “Lance, don’t do the hero thing.”

“Katie, I love you. Never forget that whatever happens, you have my heart.” Lance glanced over his shoulder and saw the light from a vehicle pulling up next to him. “Don’t forget you promised. I am turning off your sound. I don’t want them to hear you. I love you.”

Zethrid, Ezor and the new Commander from the Garrison step out of the vehicle. The Commander scanned the vehicle, then turned on Zethrid. “We had an agreement. You were paid a lot of money to kill the Paladins. They need to be out of way before my boss arrives and it can’t be traced back to me.”

Zethrid moved around the left of Lance’s ride as Ezor moved around the right. Zethrid turned her face toward Lance’s position, but her eyes did not make contact. “Who do you work for again?” When the Commander laughed, Zethrid motioned to Ezor. “We become irritated at your orders. Kill the Paladins except the Princess and possibly the Green Paladin.”

Lance steadied his breathing as Pidge dodged people in the hallway. She could hear him whispering, but she did not understand his words. Pidge focused on finding Keith as she entered the packed cafeteria. Her eyes scanned the room and found Keith on the far side.

Meanwhile, Lance waited as Ezor and Zethrid stepped closer to him. 

The Commander snickered as he mumbled. “She wants her son to be happy it is not my place to pick who lives. She blames the Paladins for the death of her husband and the state of her son’s mind.” 

The meanings of his words hit hard on Zethrid and Ezor causing them to hesitate when they saw Lance. Ezor responded first. “You are in league with Haggar and Lotor?” Her voice sounded scared as she stared at Lance. “They will kill us all.” 

The video stopped.

Pidge screamed in terror. “LANCE!” Pidge stared at the screen as if willing Lance to come back. The silence was hard for her to handle. Pidge monitored Keith’s reaction as she spoke. “It’s time.” As his face hardened with understanding she felt a sense of urgency. “Lance is in trouble, he’s surrounded. He needs backup. I need to finish what we discussed.”

Keith pulled out his knife and activated his bayard as he kept eye contact. “Cosmo, I need a ride. Allura, Hunk, follow Pidge’s directions until I get back. Pidge, don’t over do it. Get in, get out.” In a flash, Como appeared on the table in front of Keith. “Take me to Lance.” Then, they were gone.

Pidge turned and found her brothers standing in the door with her bag draped over James’ shoulder. Snatching her bag and heading to the nearest table, she pulled out her computer while issuing orders. “Krolia, Kolivan, if Cosmo comes back, go to Keith as back up. Do not kill Zethrid or Ezor, they could still be pursued to join us. We should give them a shot.” Her fingers flew over the keys as programs came online. “Danny, I need you to stay with my mom and dad. They will make sure no one harms you.” The screen indicated her program had activated so Pidge turned to Danny. “Please hand over the watch. Your time is up.” 

As she turned to Shiro and Danny slowly took off his watch, Pidge observed Shiro’s tight jaw. “Shiro, please get the Atlas ready for departure, when I get back, we will know our destination.” 

Cosmo pop into the room between Krolia and Kolivan, then the three disappear.

Danny reluctantly handed over the watch with a sour look on his face. “He is preparing to leave?”

Her face held no emotion while she took the watch and placed it over her Paladin wrist device. “Yes.” She rotated from Danny to Hunk. “Hunk, work with Matt and James to locate the beacons with quintessence signatures. The Commander placed them around the planet as bombs to mask his getaway. Should be about 20.”

With the watch securely in place, Pidge moved over to Allura and lowered her voice. “Someone will come to you and want you to open the Teleduv. No matter what they tell you, no matter what they offer, don’t open it.” She started to step away but thought better of it. “Don’t go with them. Please, don’t go. They want you alive, but you will not be you.”

Stepping between Pidge and Danny, Allura questioned. “Why?”

“Haggar has a plan to corrupt your Altean energy and use you against all of us. She will use Lotor as leverage.” 

Pidge shifted around to face Danny’s two guards. She eyes scanned them and stopped on the one who appeared loyal to the Commander. “It is time for your loyalties to be tested. Do you want Danny’s death or his uncle? Will you help me?”

His voice came out rough and loud. “You already know why I am here.” His slit like eyes blinked like a snake. “What do you need me to do?”

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small handheld device. “Can you link this to the ships computer and press the green button? It will activate a download process to Green and give us an advantage over Haggar.” Holding out the small device, Pidge weakly smiled as he took it.

Standing between Danny’s two guards, Pidge pressed buttons on her wrist unit. She held it up and scanned Danny, then pressed more buttons. Placing her hands at her side, she relaxed her shoulders and body. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “activate.”

When she opened her eyes, she found Danny staring at her in disbelief. Her eyes roamed the room and found many of them in shock. She cleared her throat, focused on one of Danny’s guards and then spoke. “How do I look?”

After a tick, he responded. “You look and sound like Daniel. How?”

Smirking she chuckled. “Technology.”

The other guard, the one that appeared loyal to the Commander, spoke. “Daniel does not smile like that or laugh. He will know you are a fake. Stand up straighter, tighten your facial muscles and never agree with him, even if you know he is right.”

“Whatever.”

The guard chuckled. “Better. Just remember, you are a means to an end, young one.”

“Don’t I know it.” She sneered as a flash of light covered her and she found herself on the deck of a ship. At the helm the Commander stood with Ezor bleeding at his feet. “What the…”

The Commander moved over to the guard loyal to Danny and pushed him. “Toss out this trash. She out lived her usefulness when she sided with the Paladins.”

Nasty and loud, Pidge hoped she played her part well. “What have you done? Why are we here?”

Danny’s uncle stepped on Ezor as he moved over to a panel on the far wall. He ignored her scream of pain as he passed. “Draven, prepare for our departure as Malika disposes of our unwanted guest.”

Draven kept his voice even and full of contempt while touching the nearest display. “As you wish Master. Malika, I will open a vent for the disposal.” He kept his panel from view to the rest of the room as he continued to work.

Malika picked up Ezor roughly and drug her to the far wall. He ignored her moans as he opened a door and shoved her in. “Ready.” After the door closed and the ship made a strange sound, he continued. “Sir, you should know Daniel spoke with the Green Paladin before we were teleported here.”

For an instant, Pidge wondered if she had miscalculated. Glancing at Draven, she spotted her pad wired into the panel with the screen active. Not only would the Atlas receive audio and video, Pidge knew the data files would transfer as well. Soon, she would have everything they needed.

Glaring at the Commander, Pidge needed to buy time. “Is it true you attempted to kill a Paladin today?”

A primal growl erupted from the Commander as he towered over Pidge. “I was willing to let the Green Paladin live because you asked, but you just signed her death warrant.”

“Really? Because didn’t you already try to have her killed and she survived?” Her mind registered too slow as he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

After another growl, he threw her across the room into a wall. “Their deaths are moments away. Draven, prepare our presents for Earth.” Staggering to her feet, the Commander laughed. “I am sorry for my behavior Daniel. We need to work together. Honerva will only keep you alive if you agree to follow her directions. She will not hesitate to kill you unlike me.”

Pidge check her reflection to rarify she still appeared as Daniel, her wrist unit signaled the data transfer completed. A beep came from the monitor in front of Draven as he turned toward Pidge. She knew from his expression that the bombs were no longer a threat. Therefore, she let the anger flow through her words. “Were you ever going to tell me that she manipulated you into killing my parents? That she promised you power and control over your own sister’s life?”

Unlike last time, Pidge dodged the attack as the Commander reached for her. She moved left as his arm stretched out and narrowly missed a chair. 

Fueled by anger, the Commander adjusted his body to reach her leg and he yanked them both to the ground. A strangled cry escaped her lips which made him grab her left wrist. “Stop fighting Daniel.” As he yanked her wrist toward him to get to the watch, she saw Draven and Malika advance closer. “You will thank me someday.” The watch pulled free and he stood with the watch under his feet. 

Crunching the watch with his boot, Pidge examined her arm she found her Danny disguised had disappeared. Her eyes drifted up and found the Commander staring with pure hatred. “Guess you miscalculated Danny’s resolve.”

Draven and Malika surrounded the Commander as he tempted to reach for Pidge. Draven’s voice sounded dark and dangerous. “Leave the Paladin alone. You caused the demise of our people because of power. It is time to pay the price.”

“I expected this from Danny or Malika, but not you Draven. You disappoint me.” Malika stepped closer to the Paladin as the Commander talked. “Let me guess, you sent the trash back down to Earth in an escape pod. Cleaver.”

Malika finally reached Pidge when an explosion rocked the room and they went sideways into the wall. “Draven, our time is up. Grab him and let’s go.” Roughly grabbing Pidge, Malika activated a device in his hand and threw it toward the other two. 

Draven dived toward Pidge’s pad and snatched it before disappearing, while the Commander shielded his body from the orange light. Once the light stopped the Commander stood alone next to Draven’s consol. 

The commander glared at them. “You won’t take me down without a fight.”

Another explosion rocked the room as Malika slid closer to the outer wall and Pidge moved next to the Commander. She rolled from her position in enough time to miss the Commander’s foot. Tapping her wrist unit, she disappeared. The two observers froze as they searched for her. 

The Commander pulled out a grenade similar to the one from the square. “We will die together.” He pulled the pin and threw it toward Malika.

Pidge reappeared next to Malika as a light surrounded them. The two watched in slow motion as the Commander lunged toward them. An explosion echoed in the distance as the three of them collided and disappeared from the ship.

In an instant, they slammed into the floor in the hallway outside the conference rooms. Pidge felt something in her left shoulder snap as Malika weigh pinned her to the floor. The two men rolled to her left and continued to struggle. Reacting quickly, she pulled her bayard with her right hand, aimed and hit the Commander in the chest. 

Panting but alive, Pidge stood as Ryan and Nadia came running past her. Ryan handcuffed the Commander as Nadia helped Malika to his feet. 

Nadia had Malika lean against her as she spoke to Ryan. “I will get them to Medbay. Kolivan will want to talk to the Commander.” Smiling at Pidge, Nadia motioned forward. 

Pidge followed Nadia to Medbay without speaking. Her head began to throb, but she pushed the thought out of her mind. The Atlas lights seemed brighter than the other ship. As they rounded the corner, she saw images Danny fighting his Uncle on the nearest monitor. Then, she remembered it was her fighting. 

When the entered the large waiting room, dozens of people sat in chairs and stood watching the monitors. Some had scenes of Lance talking to Pidge before his visitors arrived. Others had footage of the fight with the Commander. One monitor had Iverson delivering a statement on behalf of the Atlas and her crew.

Nadia and Malika walked into the first room on the right, but Pidge kept walking. At the end of the hall, she entered a room on the left where she heard a familiar voice. Pidge entered as Ina, Allura, Hunk, Romelle, Coran and James stood blocking the view of the rest of the room. Slowly, she weaved passed them to find them watching Keith, Lance and Veronica.

Pidge inched her way farther into the room as the siblings yelled at each other. Keith occasionally added a comment here are their, but Pidge just wanted them to lower their voices. Her shoulder screamed in pain as her head throbbed.

Veronica’s anger carried over to the captive audience. “Keith, make him agree to having his ribs checked for a fracture.” She stared at Keith as if her presences will force him to comply. “You heard a crunch, you said so yourself.”

Lance matched her tone, but held his body still. “Not until we get Pidge in here. Who knows what happened when the video stopped. She will not stop unless we find her.” 

“James?” Nadia panted as she ran into the room with Ryan and Matt right behind her. “We found Pidge, but we lost her. Did she come in here?”

Before the arguing could continue, Pidge spoke. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m fine. Just a mild headache. So, can you please stop screaming at each other? Oh and can someone turn down the lights?” As everyone stared at her, she turned her head toward the door giving Keith, Lance and Veronica a view of her left side. 

Veronica reach for Pidge as she calmly spoke. “Pidge, can you sit down for a moment?” 

Once Veronica touched Pidge’s left shoulder, Pidge screamed and pushed Veronica away with her right hand. “What the hell Veronica?” Pidge closed her eyes as she held back the urge to vomit.

Keith moved between Veronica and Pidge and kept his voice low. “Dislocated shoulder and a concussion. Mom showed me what to do, but it is much different fixing someone else.” He placed his right hand on his left shoulder and felt the muscles.

Matt stepped up to the other side of Pidge. “We need to balance the pressure between her side and her arm as it is shoved back in.” He placed his hand on her chin and forced her to look at him. “Yep, concussion. One of her pupils is much larger than the other. I can set her arm, but we will need to monitor her for the concussion.” He let her chin go as she stood straight up again.

Lance tried to get up but Veronica stopped him. “You can’t fix her shoulder, get a doctor.”

Keith glanced over at Lance, then back to Matt. “I can help you, but it is your call.”

Ryan stepped forward. “This is not the first time for me.”

Matt set down his bag and smiled sweetly at his sister. “Katie, we can wait for a doctor to become available or you can sit down and we can fix this. I had to set Nyma’s twice in the last year.” When his sister nodded yes. He continued. “I need you to sit on the bed here. Do you need help?”

Sitting down on the bed, tears came to her eyes. “You will need to take off my wrist unit.”

“Katie, please tell them you want a doctor to fix your arm. No offence to your brother, but you can’t have them fix it.” Lance’s panicked voice echoed around the room. “Someone, please, agree with me.”

“Before anyone agrees or disagrees, please note, she is in pain right now and I have done this before.” Matt slid his hand over her wrist unit and undid the clasp. “Lance, it is clear you love her and I will not stand in your way, but right now I need to do this.” When she growled at him, Matt stopped moving. “Ryan, get the blanket ready.”

Ryan snatched a blanket from a free bed and started folding it longways like an accordion. Once it was ready, he moved over to Pidge’s right side.

Pidge pleaded with anyone who would listen. “Cut it off please. It offends me.”

Keith chuckled. “That’s the concussion talking. Pidge, we will not cut off your arm.” He eyed Matt. “We need a distraction and to keep her awake.”

Lance looked around the room at their friends and sighed. “Pidge and I admitted we have feeling for each other after her stunt with the grenade.” His eyes stayed fixed on her. “She has been holding back and didn’t want to tell anyone about it.”

Pidge eyes opened and fixed them on him. “Oh, not this again. That is not what happened and you know it.” She winced when Matt removed her wrist band and frowned when Ryan placed the towel around her side. “Why would you bring this up now?” She saw Keith share a look with Lance, but she could not process why. “I am not embarrassed if that is what you are implying.” She swallowed hard to tame her nervousness. “I’m sorry I broadcasted our conversation without telling you.” As his eyes widened, she willed herself to relax. “Did you mean what you said?”

Glancing around the room, his eyes landed back on hers. “I meant what I said. It was not my intension to upset your brothers, but I think Nyma and Veronica are happy I did. Maybe someday they will thank me, well thank us.”

She felt the sheet Ryan folded tighten around her body. She saw several of her friends tense up. She knew Keith and Matt held up her arm, but her brain was too slow. She felt the blush on her cheeks as she ran her right hand over the fabric again. Swallowing hard, she willed herself to tell the truth. “I could care less about Matt or James. Did you mean what you said about me, about how you feel about me?” As he paused to mental review his words, Pidge blurted out her true question. “Do you love you?”

Matt nodded at Lance as the Cuban boy held Veronica’s hand. 

His head tilted to the side a little as he smiled. He reached across the bed and placed her hand in his. “I love you Katie. You are my best friend and you make me very happy.” Glancing around the room, he blushed. “Did you doubt that?”

“No, it is just that I never said it to you.” At his disappointment, she sighed and added what she knew to be true. “I love you Lance. I’m sorry I never said it, it is not fair to you. I love you.” Pidge screamed as Matt guided her arm into place with Ryan and Keith’s help. “MATT YOU JERK!” She yelled as she used her good arm to hit Matt’s chest.

“Better?” Matt said with a smile.

She rotated her neck and winced. “My shoulder feels better, but my head still hurts.” She paused a moment then shook her head. “Sorry I am acting like a baby.”

“Dear sister of mine, no one in this room thinks of you as a child. You are the smartest in this room and I am sure you could fight over half of us and win.”

She smiled at Matt with her knowing smile. “Smartest in this room, only this room. Are you trying to insult me?”

He leaned into her face. “Modest too.”

“Thank you for helping me. All of you.” She smiled at Lance. “Can I take a nap now?”

Keith smirked as he pointed to Lance. “No, now you get to help us with him.”

Lance’s face scrunched up in pain as he leaned back. “I’m fine.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “It is true. The more time you spend with someone the more you sound like them.” 

Allura sat next to Pidge and whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had feeling for him. I never noticed how perfect you are for each other. If you had told me, I would have kept your secret.”

“Allura, I didn’t tell anyone about how I felt. I’m sorry I kept it a secret.” Pidge laughed for a moment causing the room to focus on her without her noticing. “No offence, but I didn’t want to fall in love. It just happened and I tried and tired to fight it. But the more I fought, the stronger the feeling grew. I didn’t want to admit it to myself much less anyone else. I figured if I focused on my projects in my lab, finding my family, being a Paladin, getting all of us to Earth, then I would forget about my feelings for him. I thought I had everything under control. Then, Ezor threaten to torcher me. I saw this look on his face that helped me understand what he meant by sunset. I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that I was wrong. I’m not as computer like as I thought. I have feelings.” She leaned into Allura, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plan a was the first round.  
> Next, the Paladins take the fight to the source.


	12. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is finally time to reveal information to the team.  
> Pidge struggles with telling the team, but knows she has at least one person in her corner.

Between the low level of light and the soft hum of machines, Pidge first thought she was in her lab. Her mind slowly registered that she relaxed in bed. She remembered her shoulder, her conversation with Lance and her promise to Danny. Warmth from Lance coated her back from his need to cuddle with her. Cracking open her eyes, Pidge found Hunk asleep on a bed next to her. The room was to dark to determine who else lay nearby.

Her eyes drifted to the clock and her hazy brain calculated what it meant. She bolted up as if electricity coursed through her body. Scrambling out of bed, Pidge raced to her backpack. “Quintessence.”

Lance sat up, rubbed his eyes as they slowly opened. Once he felt awake enough, he stared at the Green Paladin as she rummaged through her bag. “I thought we agreed to sleep. Please tell me this is a dream or a nightmare. Don’t care which one, just so that I can go back to sleep.”

“Quintessence.”

“Quiznak.” He shifted back on the bed and glanced around the room. “Quiznak.”

Pidge noticed his frown as she dumped her bag back at the foot of their bed. “I know, right.” She walked over to the door and missed Lance’s confusion. “They could’ve left me my computer. Let’s go get it.” She walked back to him and watched his reaction.

Running his hand over his face, he mumbled. “Can this wait until later?” 

Instinctively, she tried to rotate the wrist unit Matt had removed it earlier with no luck. “I need to gather my notes for the big meeting on what we have to do next. Also, I need to talk to Danny.” She touched the bed with her right hand and smoothed down the blanket.

“Can we get some more sleep first?” Lance whined as his eyes scanned the opposite side of the bed. “I would love to go running around the ship, but we still have..”

Rolling her eyes, she rotated her left shoulder blade. “We need the element of surprise to win against Haggar and I need my notes. Come on Lance, we can sleep later.” Her eyes fixated on the blanket and the pillow she disregarded.

Lance stretched and stood. He bumped the bed next to him with the unknown sleepy figure. Stretching again, Lance noticed how edgy Pidge acted. He grabbed a bag from the floor and took out a shirt. “Are we going to wake everyone or am I the only special one?”

She faced him to return with a scolding remark, but it died on her lips. Without meaning to stare, Pidge saw Lance remove his shirt and stretch again. He spoke, but she missed it. Then, he put his shirt on and she snapped back to reality. “What?” Yawning an answer, she shrugged it off because she didn’t follow his train of thought.

Repacking his bag, Lance weakly smiled at Pidge before turning to hers. “Guess I needed more sleep than you.” Gently placing her items back into her bag, Lance smirked at the food wrappers. “How is the shoulder?” When she didn’t answer, he slid his hand into hers. “Tell me how you are feeling?”

She opened her mouth to say she was fine but thought better of her statement. “It is sore and my head hurts, but I’m still alive.” Her eyes watched as his fingers laced with hers as she spoke. “How are you feeling?”

Slinging the bags over his shoulder he pointed toward the door. “Last time I saw your computer it was in the cafeteria.” He let go of her hand, bumped two beds as he walked to the door. “Let’s start there. Once we find it we can go to the conference room and prepare for the meeting.” He opened the door and waited. “Coming?”

Nodding yes, she entered the hallway and they headed straight for the cafeteria. The two walked in silence as they traveled, but she felt comfortable with not talking. Everything had happened so quickly, she wondered if Lance was too tired to speak.

Once in the cafeteria, she picked up her computer from the first table. It was clear no one had touched it since she left so she turned to speak to Lance. Glancing around, she spied him over by the food. As she approached, she found him filling a tray with healthy snack foods. The woman at the registered smiled at Pidge when she stopped to watch him.

“Glad to see the two of you up and around, even at this late hour.” She wore a Garrison cadet outfit, which contrasted her purple hair. “If you ever need anything, I’m Holly.” Her eyes scanned Pidge causing her to reach for a nearby jar. “He sure likes the healthy snacks.” She mumbled as she handed Pidge a peanut butter cookie.

Pidge took the cookie and took a small bite. “This is really good.”

“Yeah, they are. Hunk showed Max a couple of secrets and how to make it taste moist without ruining the flavor.” She smiled at Pidge’s shock. Then, when Lance arrived, she saw him hesitate to take a sugary snack. “Go ahead and take it. Don’t worry Paladin McClain, all your food costs are covered.” He seemed as surprised as Pidge, which caused her to chuckle. 

“Who is paying for my food? And you can call me Lance.”

She counted out his tray in her register and then turned back to him. “Per Commander Iverson, Commander Holt and Commander Shirogane, we are to place food items on a tab for the Paladins to be paid out from a special account.” When both stared at her in disbelief, she continued. “Most of us see it as the least we can do for those you have risked and continue to risk their lives to keep us safe. Glad you two survived today. Paladins, are you feeling better?”

“Can I have more cookies?” Pidge said with her best polite tone.

Lance snapped at her. “You eat enough junk food, you need to eat something healthy. Here.” To make his point, he held out an apple.

Pidge frowned at him and prepared to argue, but the Holly stopped them both. “Sorry Paladin Holt, we are all out. But I must say, it is very cute watching the two of you flirt, fight and make up.” She nodded to them, then moved over to clean a countertop. “Have a good night Paladins.”

As she shifted away, Lance held out his hand. “I’m Lance and this is Pidge. You don’t need to be so formal. We are sorry for snapping at each other.”

Without looking at them as she continued cleaning, she spoke. “As a cadet, I appreciate your kindness, but as a higher ranked officer I will stick with your titles or maybe even Sir and Ma’am.” Holly continued cleaning and never looked over at them. “Please, I mean no disrespect, but I need to finish this before my shift ends.”

Lance frowned as he took the bag off his shoulder and stuck the food into his bag. After he finished his bag, he snatched Pidge’s laptop from her hands and placed it inside her bag. Slinging them over his shoulder he saw Pidge’s face. “You okay?”

She nodded yes and signaled for them to leave. Again, they walked in silence until they reached the conference room. “Ma’am? Really? To think we are higher ranked than someone.” She slumped down in the chair and began drumming her fingers on the table.

Lance set both bags down and unpacked. “You do realize that from the Garrison’s point of view, since we are the Paladins of Voltron, we hold a higher rank than James and his team?”

“Yes and no. We are Paladins, but it is different than the soldiers here at the Garrison.”

He chuckled as he finished unpacking. “Actually, when we received the new Garrison Jackets, we became higher rank than even my sister. It is strange, but our opinion matters.”

Smirking she sat in a seat and watched his face. When he looked about to say something she interrupted. “Just remember, you can’t give pointers in the simulator. You always wreck those.” She waited until he set her laptop in front of her before speaking. “I love you.”

His eyes found hers and softened. “I love you too.” He sat down to her right and ran his hand over her arm. “Katie, are you feeling alright?”

“When you said it over the headset, I was afraid, I would never get the chance to say it back. You are important to me and I never said I love you aloud. I might not have had the chance and I am sorry I waited to tell you.”

He pulled her close and wrapped her up in his arms. “Katie, I know you love me. I see it in the way you talk to me, in your actions and even in that smirk I get when we are breaking the rules. I know you would search the universe for me, just like you searched for Matt. It is not because I am a Paladin, it is because I belong to you. I’m here when you need me and even when you don’t.” Slowly they pulled away and he lowered his lips for a kiss when they heard someone clear their throat.

Both turned to see the MFEs and the rest of the Paladins looking anywhere but directly at them. However, Matt and Danny held a mixture of amusement and disgust on their faces as they stared directly at Pidge. 

Stepping closer, Matt joked. “Your boyfriend is very playful, but it is time to work.” He had his arm around Danny as they moved closer to the table.

Pidge ignored the looks and he brother as she rolled her eyes. She opened her computer and whispered. “I wish he was more playful and handy, but now is not the time.” Again, she ignored the gasp and continued typing. She refused to look up when Matt sat across from her. When he opened his mouth to speak, she snapped at him. “Before you utter another word about foreplay or try to talk about sex, don’t. He is still traumatized from last time. Took him two days before he wanted to fool around again.” After another gasp, Pidge focused on Lance. “What?”

Lance’s face held a stern, unnaturally authoritative gesture. “Again, you are not a diplomat and we are not leaving you to talk to the dignitaries.” 

Her face morphed into her famous playful smirk. “Fine by me, lover boy.”

Ina sat on the other side of Lance, but peered over his shoulder. “Foreplay is natural after a near death experience. Emotions are heightened and…”

Keith sat down with Danny on the other side of Matt as he held up his hands. “Stop all of you stop. Some of us do not need to hear this conversation.” He yawned and stretched, but stayed seated.

Pidge glance around as the teams surrounded her. “Danny.” She wondered for a brief moment if he was covering up his pain. “I am sorry about what happened today.” His eyes searched hers, but she wondered what the young boy thought of the situation. 

The door on the opposite side of the room opened. Shiro, Iverson, her parents, several from the Coalition, Krolia and Kolivan entered and approached their table. 

No one spoke at first, but it was clear the room held a tense vibe directed at Pidge. Once everyone sat, she stood causing the room to focus solely on her. She held up her hands to ease the crowd, then pointed to a nearby screen.

Pidge was about to speak, when her mom interrupted. “Katie, how are you feeling?”

Without thinking she answered. “I’m fine.” Her eyes widened when she realized that would not go over with this crowd. “Let me rephrase.” For good measure she made eye contact with her mom, who held a look of suspicion. “My shoulder is sore, my head still hurts, I don’t want to sleep, but I am tired. I’m hungry too, but I don’t want to eat any of the healthy food Lance keeps handing me. My mind keeps playing back what needs to happen next and I won’t be able to rest until I get this out.”

Collen eyes softened as nodded yes. “So, after we are all done here, you will try to get some sleep?” Collen glanced at Lance and back to Pidge. “We all need our rest Katie.”

Pidge wanted to argue that she would get rest later, but it was in this moment she realized how tired Lance, Hunk, Allura and Keith appeared. They were pushing themselves too hard. She was pushing too hard. Pidge clenched her teeth and answered, “yes.”

Once Pidge saw her mom smile, she focused on Danny. “Thank you for trusting me with your chip. I know it was not easy to trust someone with your Uncle around.” She watched as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “From what I could piece together, your uncle loved his sister. She was next in line to the throne, she was married and had you. Only your uncle started listening to the wrong person, Haggar. She told him to take power by killing all of you. He regretted killing his sister, which is why he left you alive. You look like her.” Pidge filled the display with a young couple holding a three year old boy. The man held his son as his mom smiled bright at the camera.

“Before Haggar could check on your uncle, Voltron had resurfaced.” Pidge paused a moment and changed to the Planet of Auras. “Zarkon and Haggar had their hands full fighting us. Several of your parents friends suspected your uncle of treason and murder, so he fled with you.” She shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she tapped the remote buttons with her left hand. 

Lance leaned forward and snapped. “Spill.”

She graced him with an annoyed glance, then spoke. “Okay, fine.” Her eyes focused on Shiro. “You know that talk we had about keeping files on Paladin weaknesses and how information can fall into the wrong hands. Well…”

Before Shiro could start yelling, Keith stood up. “Pidge. Focus.”

Glancing from Keith to Lance and back to Keith, Pidge sighed. “Okay. When Shiro went missing, I started wondering what Coran and Allura meant about replacing a paladin.” Several eyes widen and she was sure the whole room wanted answered. “Well, I wrote a program to do a search to locate possible Paladin replacements. Each Paladin shared quintessence signatures and personality traits with their lion.”

Allura stood up with a sour look on her face. “You did what?”

“Shiro was dead, Keith didn’t want to be the Black Paladin, Lance was struggling with Red. You wanted to be the Red Paladin and got Blue. We were a disaster.” She pulled up her data from the lions and tried to focus on the science. “When we became friends with Lotor, he got a copy of the ships computer. However, he would need time to decrypt the files.”

Allura shook her head as spoke. “Pidge, this could be used this against us.”

“If I died and Voltron was left without a Green Paladin, what shape would the universe be in? That meant, Alfor, Blaytz, Gyrgan and Trigel died for nothing.” Pidge felt the tear slide down her face, but she could focus on her emotions. “Our lives mean nothing if Voltron dies with us.” She wiped the tear away as Allura sat down.

Keith kept his voice low and comforting. “Nothing will happen to us.”

Her voice held an eerie kind of calm, at least to her. “At some point our bodies will give out, we will die. We need to make sure the next group is prepared for what comes next. Even in times of peace, we have those prepared to fight as a last resort. Even when this war ends, we will need to rebuild. I am young, but I am not naive.”

Lance stood and slowly approached Pidge. “When we first arrived on Earth, you told Veronica and James that you studied Paladin families. Why?”

“My original code lacked the sophistication to find replacement Paladins. I had too many failures in the first forty-two iterations. I needed more data to clean up the code. So, when I had time, I worked on the code and ran different tests.”

Lance’s head titled to the side. “Seriously, do you ever just sleep? I mean lay down in bed, close your eyes and not think of anything.”

She smiled at him, leaned in close and snorted. “Spending time with you helps.”

Danny turned to Keith. “They are getting mushy again. Why am I here?”

Pidge focused on Danny. “Because you are one of the next generation Paladins.”

The room exploded with questions and people jumping out their chairs. However, Pidge observed Danny, Allura, Hunk and Keith staring at her. The others did not seem mad, just shocked. 

Shiro approached the front of the room near Pidge and yelled. “Alright, that is enough!” When the room became quiet, Shiro turned to Pidge. “Pidge, how sure are you that Danny is a Paladin?”

Pidge focused on Danny’s face. “You will make a great Black Paladin someday. Shiro and Keith can teach you about strategies and leadership. They can help guide you with what things to watch out for in the others.”

It was Keith’s turn to speak as he gently placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Did you find all five?”

Shaking her head no, Pidge turned to her computer. “Danny is the Black Paladin, Sylvio is the Blue Paladin and a little Olkari girl that Ryner knows is the Yellow Paladin. As for Red and Green, well, you have to prove yourself worthy. It is more about being daring and bold, or recklessness and temperamental. We change more than...”

Lance seemed offended at first. “First, Sylvio as in my nephew?” 

Pidge shrugged. “Yes, your nephew. He is well suited to the Blue lion. As I was saying, Yellow represents the ground and Blue is water both support the foundation of Voltron. Black is like the wind, strong, invisible, but always present. However, we change based on our environment as do our lions. Green is like nature and Red is fire. Both changes and adapt with their environments, both can be deadly or passive. Red must have you prove you are worthy and Green is the same way.”

“Green answers when you call.” Lance sulked. “Green never left you fighting for your life to prove you are worthy.”

Her hands flew over the keys as she spoke, never taking her hers from the screen. “Well, yes, Green does come when I call, but I did run away from home, hid my identity from everyone and hacked into a large number of secure systems. Being the Green Paladin has it share of proving oneself. Then, I get the added pleasure of waking up in the middle of the night with some new idea or code stuck in my head and I can’t seem to stop.” Her rant and her focus caused her to miss movement around her. “Here are the coordinates to the Commander’s rendezvous with Haggar. They were supposed to meet up in about a week.” Pidge barely kept from jumping when Lance placed his hand on her arm. 

Lance lowered his voice as he spoke. “I think it is time you got some sleep.”

She shook her head and reached for the keys. Only she found Lance tighten his grip on her arm. “I need to finish decoding this information. We have the coordinates, but we need to figure out if this is some sort of trap or if Haggar figured out that we are on to her. Also, what about our guests? Or Danny and the others? We can’t abandon them.” She yanked her arm from his grasp and continued typing.

Lance held a stern edge to his voice as his hand dropped to his side. “And if a grenade takes you out this time, we should be okay with your replacement?” Pidge stopped typing and faced him, but he wasn’t finished. “You need sleep.”

Studying his face, Pidge saw his contained anger. It was the same face he wore when he fought Zethrid and Ezor on her behalf. “Please don’t be mad, I just need a few more doboshes.” When he rolled his eyes, she went back to typing. She kept to her word and finished the pattern quickly. “I sent a copy to the server in the archives.” Glancing around the room, she found a variety of looks aimed at her, but she shrugged it off.

Lance laced his fingers with hers, leaned in close and whispered. “Let’s go before everyone wants to talk.”

Pidge nodded yes and walked out without a second thought. Her head throbbed as she aimlessly walked down the hall. As she continued her journey, Lance appeared on her right to help guide her. At first, she did not realize they had stopped until Lance tugged her arm. He had stopped them outside her room.

“I figured you wanted to be somewhere other than the infirmary. Besides, the other Paladins and MFEs know where we usually end up. What are you thinking Katie?”

Her eyes scan the hallway and found it deserted. “I want to sleep, but I am not sure how.”

“Do you trust me?” His eyes held a glint of mischief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have about 3 to 4 chapters remaining. I hope people enjoy my story.
> 
> Please let me know if anyone wants to work on a story together. I have so many ideas, but not enough to write them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment on my story or recommend to friends.


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